Epic Nerds
by KTstoriesandstuff
Summary: Wiress and Beetee work in an underground supply line to District 13. Their alliance doesn't always mean friendship, and a tragedy nearly tears them apart. However, when Beetee is captured by the Capitol, Wiress must decide what her feelings are for the young engineer and choose to hide or execute a daring rescue.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: If I owned the Hunger Games, Team Nerds would be really epic!

A/N: This is Team Nerds like you've never seen them before!

* * *

The streets of District Three were dark and a light rain was falling. Most people were in their apartment buildings asleep or wrapping up their days. The factories were being maintained by small night crews. A small figure ran in the shadows of the factories. Suddenly the crackle of gunshots filled the air. Four peacekeepers ran down the street fully dressed in SWAT gear, assault rifles loaded.

"Where is she?" The lead officer asked. "She's on this street!"

"Sir, should we take her into custody?" One of the other peacekeepers asked.

"We'll see if she resists. Don't tell me you're afraid of a fourteen year old, James!"

"No, sir."

"Good." The peacekeeper shot at a shadow which turned out to be a rather unlucky stray cat foraging for food in a dumpster. "Let's move."

Under the wooden steps of a balcony, a small fourteen year old girl huddled holding a cloth bag which contained several meters of high quality wire. She smiled wryly. _Wiress, the courier of the wire._ The steps of the Peacekeepers stopped. "Officer James, any visual?"

"No sir."

"She can't just have dissapeared." The third officer said. Wiress crawled out of her hiding place and pressed herself against the brick wall. The drizzle was turning into a steady rain.

"Hey, Harrington, you think the secretary will put a fresh pot on for us when we get back?" One of the peacekeepers joked. "It's mighty rainy!"

"That's the least of my worries, now FOCUS!" The lead officer said obviously irritated with his crew. "This little brat has evaded us several times before! And her parents have a record with us! Little missy should go home after her summer job if she knows what's best for her." He sneered loudly in case the object of their chase was listening.

Wiress counted to three and ran to the next building. The shadow was long, so she sprinted down its length. She gasped as the crackle of gunfire broke the night silence. She felt a searing pain in her left ankle and began zig-zagging as she ran. She hurried around the corner and crawled under some trash cans scaring a family of rats. The peacekeepers ran down the street. "Here little girl! Come out!" The lead officer taunted. He nodded at Officer James who pulled a grenade out and rolled it under a trash bin where he thought he saw movement.

Wiress plugged her ears seconds before the trash bin on the other side of the alley exploded. The officers stood around and laughed as the citizens living in the apartment building near the blast screamed.

"Wait -" One of them said. "What's that?"

"Blood." Wiress bit her lip to keep from crying. How could she forget about her ankle wound that was throbbing. She gasped as a flashlight beam hit her eyes. "What's a little girl doing under the trash bin?" The officer asked. Wiress gulped. She gripped her bag tighter and rolled out from under the metal container.

Bullets whizzed by her as she ran erratically through the streets of District Three. She knew she had to find a safe house, but first she had to evade the Peacekeepers. She climbed an access ladder on one of the buildings and lay on the roof. She heard one of the officers climb it. Standing on the concrete and tar roof, she looked around. She would have to hop to another building. She ran across the surface and jumped not daring to look at the alley three stories below her. She landed on the roof of the adjacent building and rolled behind an air-conditioning unit sticking up from the flat surface of the concrete. She grasped her ankle which was still bleeding profusely. "Get down, Wiress. Get down." She whispered. Finding another access ladder, she climbed down until she reached the first floor. Then she jumped willing herself not to black out as pain coursed up her left leg and threatened to split her head open. She could hear the Peacekeepers combing the area, their voices distant but not completely gone. Hurrying down streets she made her way to a row of large houses. She looked at the middle one. A bare bulb was flickering in the basement. Wiress found a flat piece of metal and hurried over to the window. Sliding the metal between the window and the frame, she was able to pry the screen out. She opened the window and climbed through.

The dim light bulb illuminated a typical work room of an engineer. Wiress knew this house was safe. After landing on a broad shelf, she placed the cloth bag with the precious wire in the bottom of a toolbox. She replaced the shelves of the box and closed it. Taking a deep breath, she was aware of how dizzy she was a second before closing the window and loosing her footing on the shelf in the same motion. She felt her hand connect with a chair a second before her head hit he tile floor and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I might change the title but for now, Epic Nerds suffices haha!

* * *

Beetee woke up at the sound of a crash in his basement. He sat up straight on the couch and threw the blanket off himself. He turned on the lamp on the corner table and hurried down the stairs. Turning on the light in his workroom he gasped at the crumpled body of a young teenage girl laying on the floor. He put up the black-out boards over the windows and then knelt down by the girl. "Can you hear me?" The girl groaned. "You fell off the shelf it looks like."

"Titanium - get the -"

"Where?" Beetee asked.

"Toolbox." Beetee noticed his toolbox on the shelf under the window was pushed off to the side. He opened it and found the wire. "I have it." He held the cloth bag in his hand and placed her hand over it. "Now I need to tend to you." She gasped in pain as Beetee manipulated her ankle. "I'm sorry - I'm sorry, Wiress." Wiress turned her head and stared bewildered at Beetee.

"How do you know me?"

"Wiress the Wire runner." Beetee said quietly. "I knew you'd bring this wire." She smiled shyly at him. "I'll be back." He came back with a first-aid kit and a small cloth. "I don't know how much this will hurt." He said folding the cloth and offering it to her to bite on. "You have a bullet in your ankle. It's nearly out."

"Beetee -" Wiress asked, her large eyes widening in fear. She knew Beetee from her work as a 'wire courier' as well as the times he had spoken to her class at the Engineering Academy. She also knew him as the Victor who mentored the district tributes for the annual Hunger Games. Beetee removed his robe and folded it up so Wiress could lay on the floor and clutch it like a blanket or stuffed animal. He rolled up the sleeves of his pajamas and got to work. Wiress whimpered as he gingerly removed the bullet. She gasped as he cleaned the wound with a stinging burning liquid as best he could and then put in stitches. He wrapped her ankle in gauze and then in a sturdy bandage.

"It's over, Wiress." Beetee said taking her hand and holding it. He used the robe in Wiress' grasp to wipe the tears streaming down her face. "You're safe." Wiress nodded. "You lost quite a lot of blood, so you should stay here and not try and go out again." He placed the robe around her like a blanket. "Would you like another blanket or a pillow?" Wiress nodded. "Both?" another nod. Beetee returned and helped Wiress settle on the floor.

"Could you -" Wiress paused. "Stay?"

"Sure." Beetee said. He grabbed a blanket and pillow and came down. He lay a foot away from her. "Let me know if you need anything." Wiress nodded.

The next day Wiress woke up and wondered what she was doing in a dark room. She saw the sleeping form of the man who helped her the previous evening and remembered what happened. Standing up, she walked to the wall and turned on the lights. Her ankle hurt, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. "Wiress?" Beetee asked. "You must rest."

"I can't miss work. They'll get suspicious. You know that." Beetee nodded.

"Do you need any help?" Wiress shook her head.

"Thank you for everything." She said simply before climbing the stairs. She was thankful Victor's Village was close to the factories as she had to walk slower. She nodded to her parents before sitting at her station where she assembled circuit boards. She half-listened to her friend Melissa talk about plans for them to have a sleepover at their mutual friend Julie's house. Her mind was still on the mission. Beetee should take the titanium wire to the next stop on the underground contraband route and it would eventually go to Thirteen. She also knew he had to clean up his work shop of her blood in case the Peacekeepers came in to investigate. She wondered if she should stop by in a few days to see how things were.

"You're awfully quiet." Melissa said. Wiress yawned. "Were you reading again?" Melissa teased.

"Yeah." Wiress muttered.

"What did you do, trip over your book getting up? You're a bit gimpy." Wiress laughed and blushed.

"I was trying to take it downstairs and I fell down the staircase." Melissa laughed.

"Oh, Wiress!" Melissa giggled. "You're the smartest girl in our year at the Academy, but you're a klutz sometimes." Wiress let out a sigh of relief knowing that no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. She finished her work and walked with Melissa back to their apartment complex. No peacekeepers followed her, so she could enjoy a peaceful summer evening with her parents without worry.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wiress?" Wiress looked up into the large eyes of her mother who had shaken her awake around midnight. Wiress had been taking it easy for a month after her her incident with the Peacekeepers and hadn't had any 'courier' assignments.

"Yes, mom?" Wiress asked.

"I'm sorry to wake you, honey, but I need you to go to the factory and return this to the foreman." Wiress nodded as her mother gave her a small box. She knew the box held nearly a hundred dime sized batteries. Wiress dressed in dark sweats, shirt, and shoes. She rather than her parents went on delivery missions because she was smaller and lighter on her feet. Wiress hurried in the shadows to the factory where she and her parents worked. Suddenly a large arm wrapped around her and a hand clapped over her mouth. Wiress gasped and clutched her box tighter. She kicked her assailant and twisted out of his grasp as he loosened is grip in pain.

"It's me." Wiress gasped as Beetee pulled the dark hood of his sweatshirt off his head. "I know where that box needs to go."

"Walters." Wiress whispered.

"No - the plan changed. Go back to your parents' house." Wiress nodded and thrust the box into Beetee's hands. "Wiress?" Beetee asked.

"Thank you." Wiress whispered before hurrying back home. Beetee hurried to the factory. At age twenty-two, Beetee was more fit than most of his peers who didn't take strenuous work in the factories. He credited his fitness level to running missions like this. He hurried into a factory and handed the box to the foreman who asked for it. He hurried home to Victors' Village before falling asleep on the couch. His parents has always asked him why he didn't use one of the large bedrooms upstairs. His rationale was that the couch was that much closer to the kitchen.

Wiress hurried back home and crawled into bed. She fell asleep quickly knowing that she would need to be ready for another full day of work the next day. "Good morning, sunshine!" Wiress smiled as her father came into her room with a tea tray.

"Dad!" Wiress laughed. Her father sat on the edge of her bed. He was the unit manager in the factory. She took a tea-cup and sipped it. "Mm! Herbal tea!"

"Thought I'd pamper my daughter a bit before she goes to work." Wiress laughed. Being an only child, her parents enjoyed pampering her. However, their family wasn't overly wealthy even though both her parents had good jobs. Wiress' parents used most of their funds to try and save the life of her older sister.

Wiress remembered holding her older sister's hand as she walked to the Reaping. Wiress didn't know why all the kids were standing in the town square. She just assumed it was for school. "I'll be back, Wiwi." Shawni said.

"If the teacher calls you, say your equations!" Wiress cheered. Shawni laughed. Little Wiress at four years of age held up her flashcards to test her on seventh grade physics to help Shawni with her homework.

"Ok, Wiwi." Wiress perched herself up on her father's shoulders. She cheered when the lady in the orange dress read the name: Shawnetta Carpenter. Wiress hugged Shawni and told her to do a good job at the contest she would be in at The Capital.

"Will you win a ribbon?" Wiress asked.

"We'll see, Wiwi." Shawni said. "I love you, little wire. I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Ok!" Wiress said. She remembered crying because she couldn't watch the Games on TV. Her mother told her that they were for older kids to watch only. Wiress sat in her and Shawni's room making things out of scraps of wires, cardboard, and metal pieces she had found around the house and around the streets of the district. She smiled knowing Shawni would enjoy seeing these little contraptions. Her parents went through the house the second day of the Games putting everything except their bare essentials in boxes. They told Wiress that they were going to send some money to Shawni in the Capitol. Wiress sold some of her little contraptions to some neighbors who gave her a few coins. Her parents smiled at her, but she couldn't understand why they were crying as well.

She remembered her parents crying after the third day of the Games. She went with them to the Justice Center to pick up a medal with Shawni's name on it. For two months, Wiress waited for Shawni who never came home. It was only when she was nine that she fully understood Shawni's fate. That year an eighteen year old named Beetee Tesla had won the Games. Wiress went to bed jealous that Shawni hadn't come home, but grateful that to her knowledge, Shawni never had to watch herself kill other children in such a brutal way.

"What are you thinking about, my little wire?" Mr. Carpenter asked looking at the far away look in Wiress's eyes.

"Shawnetta." Wiress said. "I'm her age."

"I know." Mr. Carpenter said. "She would be proud of you. You know, she wasn't elligable to apply for entrance into the Engineering Academy, but just from watching you, she knew you would."

"Thanks, dad." Wiress said. "And thanks for the tea." They joined Mrs. Carpenter and walked to work as a family chatting about how their work in the different areas of production were going. As always, Wiress had ideas on how to improve the machines, and Mr. Carpenter took notes. They reached the large Factory Four where they all worked. "Have a good day at work, guys. I love you." Wiress said hugging both her parents.

"We do too, honey." Mrs. Carpenter said. "Don't chat too much with Melissa." Wiress laughed.

"I'll give the factory head your ideas, my little genius." Wiress blushed as her father ruffled her hair. "Love you." She hugged her parents and went to the circuit assembly room where Melissa was waving her over.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wiress, what's up?" Melissa asked. She noticed Wiress looking at the conveyor belt in an intent and worried way.

"I - something's not right." Wiress said. She hurriedly assembled some components and hurried upstairs to where her parents worked monitoring the conveyor belts.

"Wiress, honey?" Her mother asked. "What's wrong?"

"The belt's slowing and starting up downstairs." Wiress said.

"We know, honey." Mrs. Carpenter smiled at her daughter.

"You're our little engineer keeping us on our toes." Wiress' father said chuckling. Suddenly they heard a loud clunking and hissing sound. "Wiress, honey - go back downstairs." Wiress ran to the wall and pulled the alarm seconds before the whole machine was engulfed in a fireball.

"MOM! DAD! MOM!" Wiress screamed. She grabbed a fire blanket and beat at the flames as she ran into the inferno trying to find her parents. Other workers were screaming or laying on the ground injured and trying to crawl away from the flames.

"WIRESS!" She heard Melissa's voice from far away. Wiress took a breath to tell Melissa to stay back, but felt fire rush down her throat. She fell to her knees coughing as the flames began licking her factory jumpsuit. Tears came to her eyes. She saw an outstretched arm by a large piece of the machinery. She ran over to see if it was one of her parents. As she peered around the machinery part, she dropped her blanket and screamed. The arm was separated from a charred body that was a foot away. The image burnt into her brain much like the flames burning into her skin. Suddenly she felt someone push her to the floor. The person held her close to his body as he rolled across the floor.

"Cover your face!" He ordered before crouching and jumping through the window of the factory seconds before the third and fourth floors exploded in a fireball. Wiress felt both of them hit the ground on their side. The person disentangled himself from her and helped her lay down on the ground. By that time, the other workers had evacuated.

"WIRESS!" Melissa's frantic voice pierced the crowd. "WIRESS! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"She's here!" Wiress' rescuer called. Wiress gasped as she recognized the voice. She began coughing. "It's ok - shh - it's ok." Beetee said.

"She looks pretty burnt." The medical technician of the factory said. Beetee nodded. "Hey little lady, I'm just going to examine you." Wiress nodded.

"My - parents -" Wiress whispered as tears streamed down her face.

"I'm sorry." The medical technician whispered, grief feeling his face watching the burnt girl on the ground sob. "I'm so sorry. You're the only survivor from that room." The technician cleaned her wounds as best he could. Surprisingly, she only had one third degree burn on her right leg. "She'll have to go to the hospital." The technician said. They lifted Wiress onto a stretcher. Melissa grabbed one side and Beetee grabbed the other. Soon Wiress was surrounded by her parents' co-workers. In an odd sort of procession, Wiress was borne on the stretcher held by at least ten people as they walked down the streets to the hospital. The technician briefed the doctors about her condition as the workers transferred Wiress to a bed in the hospital.

"You stay strong, Wiress." One of them said.

"Your parents would be proud of you."

"We need you back, our little genius." Wiress nodded her thanks through her tears as the workers of Factory Four wished her well and squeezed her hands before leaving.

"They won't have died in vain." Beetee said barely above a whisper before squeezing her hand. He turned back at the door to the emergency unit and looked at her one more time before leaving the hospital.

Wiress spent a week at the hospital before going home to her grandmother. "Your father would talk about you nonstop when he visited me." she said embracing her granddaughter. "He loved you. Both of them did. I know you tried to save them, I know, honey." Wiress nodded as her grandmother held her in her arms. "Anabel down the hallway had an extra bed that you can have, dear. You'll have to share a bedroom with this old lady, but I don't mind." Wiress' grandmother smiled at her.

"Grandma -" Wiress paused looking around the one bedroom apartment. "It isn't too much of a burden?"

"Honey, you're my family. My son lives on in you." Miss Carpenter said cupping Wiress' face in her worn hands. "I'm taking care of you, do you hear me?" Wiress nodded. "That's a girl." She said kissing her granddaughter's tearstained cheeks. "Now, you rest while I fix some tea. The doctors said to take it easy even though you're home." Wiress nodded. She thought yet again about the factory accident. She couldn't shake the idea that somehow the Capitol had taken not only her sister but her parents as well.


	5. Chapter 5

Wiress had an uneventful fifteenth birthday. She had signed up for tessrae as soon as she could so she could get the fourteen rather than the fifteen year old quota of slips in the reaping bowl. Melissa gave her a nice hair barrette as her hair was growing out again. Much of it had been singed off by the fire. School had started again and Wiress became engrossed in her classes. They took her mind off of the grief she felt when she thought about her parents.

She was still part of the underground parts network. She did simple things like delivering messages for the rest of the summer and into the fall. One winter day she hurried to a nondescript shed to meet a person from District Five and hand him some wires and a special capacitor. "Thanks." The man said simply.

"Oh, there you are." Wiress looked over at Beetee who came around the corner. "Here. That's the whole package." Beetee handed the man another box. The man disappeared into the shadows. "I'll walk you home." Beetee said.

"I'm fine." Wiress said. Beetee gave her a concerned look. "Ok. Thank you." Wiress said. She walked alongside Beetee.

"How are you doing?" Beetee asked. A flash of sadness crossed Wiress' face.

"Fine." She said. "School's going well. In fact, I did well on my fall midterm project."

"You won the junior inventor's medal at the Academy." Beetee said. Wiress nodded. "I was at the ceremony." Wiress bit her lip.

"My parents weren't." Wiress sighed. "I wish they were." Beetee nodded.

"I wish I had been there sooner." Beetee said.

"What?" Wiress asked. She stopped on the sidewalk and stared hard at him. Beetee looked at the ground and adjusted his glasses nervously. "Been where sooner?" Her mind flashed back to the accident. "I wondered why you were there. In the factory that day." Wiress whispered.

"I'm sorry." Beetee said. He turned and walked toward Victor's Village.

"Beete?" Wiress asked. Beetee walked faster toward his house. "BEETEE!" Wiress broke into a run. She reached Beetee's house as the front door closed.

Beetee had barely sat down on his couch / bed before the front door slammed open. "BEETEE! YOU KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT THE ACCIDENT! TELL ME! NOW!" Wiress stood in the doorway glaring at him.

"Wiress -" Beetee choked. Wiress slammed the door closed and stared him down. "I - do you remember when I took the wire from you? I told you it went to a different person?" Wiress paled and nodded. Beetee stared at his hands before looking into large eyes that brimmed with sadness. "That was the wrong information. Your parents were found out." Wiress shook her head. "I'm sorry - I'm so sorry - Wiress - I tried to stop - I tried to warn them, but I was there too late -" He stood up and reached for Wiress' hands.

"Get away from me -" Wiress said pulling her hands out of his grasp. "You could've sent a message to us. You could've told us not to come to work."

"I know." Beetee whispered. "I - I don't know why I didn't - Wiress - please - I'm so sorry -"

"NEVER COME NEAR ME AGAIN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Wiress screamed. She wrenched open the door and slammed it open so hard the glass on the window of the door shattered. Beetee stood on the porch and watched her run down the street. He heard her sobs but knew he would only get yelled at if he came near her.

Wiress ran all the way home. "Wiress!" Her grandmother gasped. Wiress shook her head and pulled off her coat, gloves, hat, scarf, and boots. She hurried into her bedroom and slammed the door. She threw herself down on her bed and cried. "Wiress?" She felt her bed sink a bit in the middle. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I hate him, Grandma!" Wiress wailed. "He knew - he knew - and he did nothing! I hate him!"

"Wiress - you musn't think like that." Miss Carpenter said. "He did do something." Wiress glared at her. "He saved you." Wiress pressed her face into her pillow and cried harder. "What I said will sink in after you're done crying it out, dear."

Her grandmother was somewhat right. Wiress was sent on a mission to take some audio parts from one of the factories. She was to work with Beetee. She said nothing when they met at the factory. Beetee picked the lock to enter the building. "Are you strong enough to get up there?" Beetee asked looking at the ladder to the catwalk to reach the parts. Wiress glared at him before climbing up. She put the parts in the bag and shoved them into Beetee's hands. She opened the door and was off running in the shadows before Beetee could even say good bye. He sighed and made his way to the drop off spot. At least she wasn't opposed to working with him. However he knew that it would be a long time before she would be on friendly terms with him.


	6. Chapter 6

A spring rain was falling as Wiress ran down the dark streets of District Three. She had hidden another coil of wire at a safe house. The wire was bound for District Three. Suddenly she heard the sound of Peacekeepers. She scrambled up a ladder and waited. "I was just taking a walk." She heard Beetee's voice and gulped.

"Why would an inventor such as yourself need to take a _walk?_ Surely your inventions are worked on during the day." Wiress crawled up to the roof and scrounged around for a piece of metal. She found that and a piece of rubber insulation that had fallen off a power line to the building. She climbed down the ladder and aimed her makeshift slingshot.

"I'm sorry, I'll just go home straight away." Beetee said.

"Afraid I can't let you do that, Mr. Tesla." The peacekeeper said grabbing Beetee. Wiress pulled back on her slingshot and the metal went into the peacekeeper's shoulder. He yelled and released his hold on Beetee. A kick from Beetee brought him down. Wiress jumped down from the ladder and began running. Beetee grabbed her and pulled her down an alley. He pried open a door to an abandoned building and pulled her inside.

"Get down!" He hissed pushing her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Wiress hissed. "Now we're both getting caught." Her eyes narrowed as she stared up at Beetee who was still pinning her to the ground.

"Trust me." Wiress slapped him across the face.

"Give me a reason, genius." She breathed, her voice dripping with hate. They heard the sound of Peacekeepers running outside the building. Beetee lay down on top of her to protect her in case they came in.

"That's why." Beetee whispered in her ear. Wiress lay on the ground silently. She barely dared to breathe as she heard Peacekeepers searching the area. Unconsciously she felt for Beetee's hand and grasped it for comfort. Once they were gone, Wiress pushed Beetee off of her. "Thanks." Beetee said. "For saving me back there." Wiress nodded.

"Thanks." She paused. "For this hideout." Beetee reached for hand. "I'm going home." She said before jogging off. She stayed in the shadows and didn't meet any other peacekeepers. She entered the apartment building and opened the door to her grandmother's unit without making a sound. She crept into her room and lay down on her bed.

Beetee hurried back to his house. He lay on the couch pondering the events of the night. It was Wiress who shot the peacekeeper with the metal slingshot. She accepted his help begrudgingly but thanked him afterward. He wanted her to forgive him so bad, but he knew it would take time. He sighed. _Beetee, she's fifteen and lost her parents after losing her sister. What did you expect?_ He rolled over and fell into a fitful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Wiress couldn't sleep. There was only one more day until Reaping Day. She groaned and rolled around in bed. "I still have some sleepy-time leaves for tea, my live-wire." Her grandmother Annette said. Wiress groaned and pulled the covers over her head.

Annette sighed. She didn't want Wiress to have to take out more tesserae next year. Wiress had applied for the Innovation Incorporated scholarship which included submitting three potential designs as well as writing an essay describing her situation and how it has made her stronger. Even with all that extra work, Wiress finished the school year at the top of her class. Even though school had let out two days ago, Annette knew Wiress couldn't relax until after the Reaping. She watched her granddaughter laying quietly under her blankets and fell asleep.

Wiress waited until she heard her grandmother's soft snores coming from the other side of the room. She climbed out of bed and ran stealthly to Beetee's house. Beetee jumped as he saw a figure looking into his living room window. "Wiress?" He asked. "Do you have a delivery?" Wiress shook her head. She looked at the couch that still had the blankets folded on it. Beetee hadn't even tried going to sleep. "What's up?"

"The Reaping." Wiress said. "I figured you couldn't sleep."

"Who can?" Beetee muttered. "Why aren't you at one of your friends' houses?" Wiress shrugged.

"Don't ask me to explain it, but I came over here because it's different for you." Beetee looked at her puzzled.

"You - you want to help me?" Wiress nodded. "How?"

"Figure it out, genius." Wiress said rolling her eyes. "I just thought you needed someone around, that's all." Beetee blinked and gave her a blank stare. A million confused thoughts flew through his brain. Wiress sighed and walked to the door. "Well, it was a nice run for me."

"Wiress - wait -" Beetee paused as Wiress put her hand on the doorknob. He looked at the couch and then looked up the stairs. He realized he would be quite a bit further from the kitchen, but he figured Wiress didn't want to try and sleep on half a couch cushion. He walked over and took one of her hands. "I - I really appreciate you coming over." Wiress nodded. He led her up the stairs. "This is technically my room." Wiress looked around the bedroom with the queen-sized bed that had dark blue blankets.

"Even though you sleep on the couch." Wiress quipped.

"You better have brought your pajamas, genius." Beetee quipped before going into the bathroom to change. Wiress pulled her sweater off to reveal a nightshirt underneath. She crawled into bed and waited for Beetee. "Does your grandma know you're here?"

"Yeah. I left her a note." Wiress said. Beetee turned off the light and crawled under the covers.

"I still can't believe you're here with me." He felt a sharp pinch on his arm. "OW!" Wiress smirked at him. "Ok! Ok! You're really here!" He wrapped his arms around her. "And here I thought you hated me." He murmured into her hair.

"I'm forgiving you slowly." Wiress said, her lips brushing his neck making him shiver. "But you've saved me enough to do you a favor, don't you think?" She put one arm around his neck and rested her other hand against his shirt over his heart.

"Yeah." Beetee grunted. "Wiress?"

"What?" Wiress asked with mock irritation. "You just going to yak all night?"

"No." Beetee said. "I - Good night." _I love you._

"Night." Wiress pressed her lips against Beetee's skin before falling asleep. Beetee held Wiress closer before dozing off as well.

"Well, we'r_e even_." Wiress said tugging on her jacket the next morning. "What are you doing today?"

"I'll be at I-Squared." Beetee said. He looked at her. "I'd like you to come if you can."

"OK." Wiress said. "You haven't lost my designs have you?"

"Nope." Beetee said. "I was wondering if you could look at something for me."

"I'm not out of the Academy." Wiress said.

"I just need a fresh pair of eyes on it." Beetee said. "Genius."

"Just let me run home and change so Grandma knows I didn't fall into a manhole coming over here." Beetee nodded. Wiress came for the morning and they chatted about Beetee's projects. She spent the afternoon with her friends as was their tradition before Reaping Day.

"Stephanie Mayles!" Eustacia the escort called. Wiress gulped as a girl came out of the fourteen year old sections. Melissa and Julie looked at Wiress sympathetically. Stephanie had been tutored by Wiress during the past academic year. A boy's name was called that the three of them didn't recognize. He wasn't from the academy.

"Wiress!" Stephanie gasped as Wiress wrapped her in a hug. They were in the Justice Building saying goodbye.

"Stephanie," Wiress looked into the girl's terrified eyes. "You are a smart Academy student. You can do this."

"I - Oh - Wiress - I'm not as smart as you." Stephanie stammered.

"You know enough physics to figure stuff out there. And you'll be mentored by an Academy alumnus. You'll be fine." Wiress said. "You just need to trust us."

"Us?" Stephanie asked confused.

"Trust me right now. Trust Beetee starting in ten minutes." Wiress explained quickly hoping she wasn't blushing terribly. "Your parents are here. Talk to you later."

"Bye Wiress - thanks for everything!" Stephanie sobbed. Wiress nodded and walked out of the room with her head held high, an unreadable expression on her face.

Beetee watched Wiress leave the Justice Building with a resolute expression on her face. He knew that she was close to this student as she had mentioned her tutoring work a few times to him. He waited until he was on the train to talk to Stephanie. "Wiress is right." He said. Stephanie nodded still looking terrified. "You can do this."

"How do you know what she said?" Stephanie asked, her lip quivering as she began crying again.

"We've talked before." Beetee said smiling. "She knows your potential as your tutor."

"She tutored me because I was failing out of the academy." Stephanie whispered.

"Did you pass this year?" Stephanie nodded. "Ok then." Beetee smiled. He talked to the male tribute who took to moping in his room for most of the train ride. Beetee and Stephanie were able to talk a bit about traps and looking confident for the cameras.

Stephanie's confidence increased after the opening ceremonies when Eustacia said she looked pretty. She also did well her first day of training building traps and learning survival skills.

Wiress threw herself into her summer job at the factory often staying late to do little projects. That was the only way she could put aside her worry about Stephanie and the Games. Finally it was the night of the interviews. Wiress sat on the couch chewing her nails. "There she is, honey." Her grandmother said.

"Congratulations on a seven on training, Stephanie." Caesar said. Wiress gasped. "This is the highest training score since your mentor was in the Games."

"Thank you." Stephanie said. "We're both from the Engineering Academy." She smiled. "Both he and a friend from the academy told me that I had enough brains to win." Tears streamed down Wiress' face.

"Who is this friend of yours?"

"Wiress Carpenter. She's a year ahead of me." Stephanie explained. "I'll be thinking about her as well as my mom and dad and other family and friends." She smiled as the buzzer went off.

"She'll go far, my live-wire." Annette said as she put her arms around a sobbing Wiress. "You just send your strength to her in the arena, ok?"

"Ok." Wiress whispered. She cried herself to sleep thinking about Stephanie and all the other tributes who had gone into the arena never to return to District Three.

The next day, the students from the Engineering Academy gathered in the school's lunch room to watch the Games. Wiress watched as Stephanie looked around the area. When the gong sounded, Stephanie grabbed a pack and turned around to run away from the chaos around the cornucopia. A burly seventeen year old from Four ran toward her. Stephanie picked up a spear and ran toward him. She wounded him in the shoulder. She rolled away and aimed her spear at his heart. As she drove it into him, he pulled out a knife and slit her throat.

"NO!" Wiress screamed as Stephanie fell to the ground as her cannon sounded. Wiress's knees hit the tile floor as she put her head in her hands sobbing. Melissa and Julie helped Wiress stand up and walk out of the room.

Annette sighed as she put a tray of tea and a small roll on the nightstand by Wiress' bed. Wiress had been in bed for five days straight. The Games were nearly over. She said stroking her granddaughter's hair. She held Wiress' hand and looked into a pair of large sad eyes. "Oh honey –"

"I hate him." Annette's blood chilled at the hatred in Wiress' voice. "He gave up on her."

"She got a training score of seven, dear." Annette said.

"He only teaches them defense." Wiress whispered. "She couldn't fight. He didn't teach her. I hate him." Wiress turned around and faced the wall.

"Honey," Annette sighed and chose her words carefully. "I – I don't think Beetee is the only reason – Stephanie is gone." Wiress pulled the blankets over her head and cried. Annette knew Wiress needed some space and left the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Thankfully for Wiress, she didn't have any missions with Beetee for the whole summer. Throwing herself into her work allowed her to bury her worries and grief. She also realized she could probably get by without taking out tesserae.

During the first week of school, Wiress and four others at the Engineering Academy received the Innovation Incorporated or I-Squared scholarship. She smiled and shook Beetee's hand after walking across the stage. Her friends congratulated her and hugged her. "Well, my grandma won't have to worry." Wiress said.

"You'll be an amazing inventor!" Melissa said smiling. Wiress received congratulations from many of the students in the sixteen year olds' class. The day went by quickly. Wiress stayed in the library after the last class period to do her homework. When the school day closed, Wiress left the library and exited the building. It was 5pm and the hard part of the day would start. She stuffed her books in a shed near the academy and then stayed hidden in an alley. She watched as a person dressed like a mailman walked down the alley and deposited a package on the ledge of a boarded up window. She hurried out of her hiding place and grabbed the package. She ran to the next rendezvous place which was near the factories and grabbed some other items that were placed in stealth locations. They were all parts to a factory being built in District Thirteen. She placed the pieces in her book bag and slung it over her shoulder as she ran to the train station. She would need to secure the bag to the underside of a certain car.

She groaned inwardly. Peacekeepers were monitoring the train station. _Think, Wiress. Think._ She looked around for a hiding spot. Suddenly she spotted another person hiding in the shadows of the building. The person had wire wrapped around his gloved hands. He ran out and strangled one of the Peacekeepers. The Peacekeeper shuddered from more than just the wire around his neck. Wiress gasped realizing the wire was running a current. She ran out as Beetee strangled another Peacekeeper.

"Take this!" Beetee handed Wiress a knife with a rubber handle. She heard a hum coming from the blade and knew electricity was running through it. She threw it at a Peacekeeper's shoulder. He fell to the floor and began convulsing. Suddenly two more Peacekeepers came out, weapons drawn. Wiress jumped under a bench. She had to get to the train. She ran to the track and rolled under the wheels as bullets whizzed by her.

Crawling on the underside of the cars, she found the correct car and secured the bag to the metal bars underneath the car. She found a piece of metal laying on the ground. It wasn't much, but she didn't know what else to do. Grasping the long metal bar, she rolled out from under the train. Beetee threw something her way. Wiress grabbed a bundle which was a pair of rubber gloves, a battery, and a short wire. Wiress wrapped the wire around the bar and attached the battery to it with her now gloved hands. She hit a Peacekeeper and knocked him out. "There's only one more then we can run!" Wiress hollered. Beetee grabbed a gun from a fallen Peacekeeper and aimed at the last officer who was firing at them. Wiress rolled across the floor and hit the peacekeeper across the shins. He aimed his weapon at Wiress' head moments before she was showered in blood. Beetee stood up with a six inch long blood covered knife in his hand. He disabled the battery and tossed it aside. It landed next to the peacekeeper's body. His head was nearly cut off. He glanced up at Wiress' horrified expression and opened his mouth to say something before she took off running.

_Dang, she's fast!_ Beetee thought gasping for air trying to catch up to the young engineer. Suddenly he heard the footsteps of Peacekeepers' boots. He took a deep breath and sprinted hard after Wiress. He grabbed her and ran toward a closed off part of a factory. Wiress climbed an access ladder and jumped through an already broken window. Beetee followed right before the Peacekeepers opened fire in the street below. They didn't dare to move until they heard the Peacekeepers run down another street. Wiress pulled out a small bulb and attached a battery and short wire to it. She set it on the concrete floor to give them some light."Stay away." Wiress hissed from a corner as Beetee slowly walked toward her.

"Wiress?" Beetee asked. Suddenly a small but thick rusted pipe flew past his face.

"_I said stay away!_" Wiress said in a low voice glaring at Beetee with hate in her eyes. "You fight, but you don't teach them to."

"I - what?" Beetee sat down where he was and hoped nothing else would fly past him.

"You heard me." Wiress muttered. Beetee sighed.

"It's - that image won't leave my head. Ever. Along with the images of those other kids in the Games." Beetee explained feeling unpleasant memories flick behind his eyes.

"The ones _you let die_ in the Games _every year?_" Wiress hissed. Suddenly she gasped as she was pinned to the floor. Beetee was sitting with his knees on her shoulders, his hands holding her neck to the floor. She gasped for air and spat in Beetee's glasses. "You gonna kill again?" She whispered.

"No. I don't want your face to haunt me in my nightmares." Beetee said in a low voice. He glared down at her. "May you _never _understand how it feels to use all your engineering education to design a machine that kills humans. May you _never_ understand what it's like to look into other kids' eyes as they die. _That's_ why I don't teach them to kill. They might have to live with it later." He got up and walked to the other side of the room. Wiress lay on the floor shaking. She watched Beetee kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands. She sighed and decided to explore the area to distract her thoughts from what Beetee had said.


	9. Chapter 9

Wiress found a spout along the far wall. She turned it and noticed the knobs needed oiling. Water squirted from the tap and she washed her hair grimacing seeing the Peacekeeper's blood run down the drain along with water. "It's on your coat too." Beetee pointed out. "You don't have your uniform on do you?"

"No. I knew to change, genius." Wiress muttered.

"Good. Your clothes are pretty filthy."

"I'm sure yours are no better." Wiress stripped down to a camisole and her underwear. Ignoring the cold, she concentrated on getting the blood out of her clothes.

"What do you think?" Beetee asked.

"Coat and shirt are no good." Wiress said. She hung her clothes on a rusted metal bar running half the length of the room. Beetee washed his clothes and hung them up to dry. He looked over at Wiress curled up in a ball near her light bulb.

"Cold?" He asked.

"I'm burning up, genius." Wiress retorted through chattering teeth. Beetee watched her as she closed her eyes. She had either fallen asleep or was feigning sleep. Either way, she was still shivering. He tiptoed over to her and undid the wire and bulb so only moonlight lit the room. He gingerly lay down behind her. When it was clear he wouldn't get punched, kicked, or otherwise attacked by his charge, he wrapped his arms around her.

"Beetee?" She whispered turning around to face him.

"Who's the warm one now, genius?" Beetee asked smiling. He was lightly punched in the chest before Wiress pressed herself against him craving his warmth. He rubbed her back with slow circles until her breathing was slow and even. He fell asleep with her heart beating near his.

They woke as the sun was coming up. Their clothes were nearly dry when they pulled them on. "Have a good day at school." Beetee said.

"Thanks." Wiress said. "Have a good day at I-Squared." Beetee opened his mouth to tell her he would but she had already began her ascent down the ladder.

The normalcy of working equations and solving problems helped Wiress put the previous night behind her. School went by without a hitch and Wiress came home. "Hello dear." Her grandmother called as Wiress came through the door. "Before you begin studying, we have company." Wiress closed her eyes as she pulled off her shoes and put her book bag down at the door. She willed herself to stay calm. She opened her eyes and looked at the dining table where her grandmother was sitting with a peacekeeper.

"Good day, Miss Carpenter. I'm Officer Walters." Wiress shook his hand.

"Pleased to meet you." She said. "Would you like some tea?"

"Your grandmother has already treated me to some excellent tea, thank you. Please, sit." Wiress nodded and sat at the table. "I was told you as the top of the fourth year class have quite a bit of studying to do, so I wish to make this short." Wiress nodded. "A report - a rather shaky report - from one of my now late colleagues seems to indicate that you may have been at the Stout street train station last night." Wiress made no motion of surprise or denial. "According to the report you were present when another person - potentially our engineer-victor Mr. Tesla downsized our Peacekeeping forces." Officer Walters paused. "Your grandmother has already indicated that you were not home last night."

"I stayed late to study at the Academy." Wiress said. "I did walk around a bit - just getting ideas for my next project."

"Why didn't you come home to your grandmother?" Officer Walters asked, his hand fingering the metal handcuffs and baton clipped to his belt.

"I - it was late - and - I realized I was by the factories and - I didn't want to be caught after hours. So I stayed in an abandoned building."

"Well, next time you come home earlier to not worry your grandmother. She doesn't want to lose any more relatives, you know." Officer Walters smiled with an evil glint in his eye. Wiress nodded. "One more thing before I head out, my colleague managed to get this picture in his scope." He slid a grainy photo taken through the cross-hairs of a weapon. A man dressed in all black, his face camoflauged, was strangling another peacekeeper with a wire. The wire was illuminated by the current running through it. "This is a very unique way to dispose of a person, don't you think? Do you recognize this person from the Academy - or perhaps an Academy alumnus? Look at the hands." Wiress looked. "Your grandmother said you shook Mr. Tesla's hand yesterday during an award ceremony. Surely you remember those hands."

"I do." Wiress said. "But even students in manufacturing physics learn about electrical currents. This person didn't need an engineering degree to kill like this."

"Are you quite sure?" Officer Walters asked looking into Wiress' large dark eyes. She stared straight into his.

"Yes, Officer Walters. I'm sure."

"Very well. Thank you." He stood up and walked out of the apartment. Wiress and her grandmother quietly made dinner and ate in silence, both of them deep in thought.

After Wiress finished her homework, she lay in bed thinking. The absence of her grandmother's snoring indicated she was awake too. "That was a brave thing you did, my little live wire." Annette said quietly.

"Thanks, Grandma." Wiress said. "I had to. We're a team." Even though it was dark, Wiress could mentally see her grandmother's raised eyebrows.

"_We_ are a team?" Annette asked smiling. She chuckled as Wiress pulled the blanket over her head. "Oh, honey, you don't need to hide your blush. It's dark enough."

"Grandma!" Wiress groaned.

"Well, I'm glad to see you both are patching up your differences enough to help each other, that's all." She paused. "You know, I think you should try and do an internship at I-Squared your junior or senior year."

"I -"

"Why not? You're top of your class, he's determined your work worthy enough to earn you a scholarship, logically little live-wire, it makes sense."

"Um -" Wiress paused. "I guess."

"Oh, you just are bashful about working alongside the young man you happen to like." Annette waited for Wiress to respond while laying in her bed smiling. "Think about it, honey. Good night."


	10. Chapter 10

Beetee was placing his new wire in a plastic-like insulating material when he heard the door open. "Wiress?" He asked not looking up. He recognized her entrance by the way her feet lightly pattered across the floor. He felt two hands on his shoulders before she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and rested her cheek on the top of his head.

"Beetee." Wiress whispered smiling. Beetee looked up and chuckled as their noses touched. "I'm glad you're here." His house was the first place she went to after school was over the day after Officer Walters' visit. She had to make sure he was ok.

"I'm glad too." Beetee said holding her hands. Wiress smiled as his fingers wrapped around hers.

"You need more complex locks on your doors, genius." Wiress said in his ear. He chuckled. "I picked them in thirty seconds."

"Maybe that can be your next project." Beetee chuckled. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Wiress. She pulled on his pocket protector on his shirt before cupping her hands around his jaw. She smiled and sighed as Beetee kissed her forehead. "Thank you for covering for me." He whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek.

"We're a team." Wiress whispered, her face pressed against his neck. "I wanted to check out that wire, you know." She said louder knowing their conversation might be monitored.

"I might keep it a surprise. Don't want you to give it away in your electrical engineering term paper." Wiress playfully smacked him.

"I'll figure it out on my own, genius!" Wiress laughed.

"Oh no you don't!" Beetee said as Wiress broke free from his grasp and began flipping through his notebook. "You come up with your own ideas, genius!" He scooped her up in his arms as she shrieked. He carried her out of his workroom and deposited her on the couch.

"BEETEE! WHAT THE HECK?" Wiress yelped as she hit the couch cushions. Beetee crawled on top of her.

"What will you do _now? Genius?_" Beetee whispered in her ear. He was surprised when a pair of lips met his. He reciprocated eagerly.

"You want your glasses off?" Wiress asked smirking before fogging them up with her breath.

"No. All the better to see you, dear." Beetee whispered before tangling his fingers in Wiress' hair as they shared more kisses. Wiress ran her fingers up and down Beetee's face and neck. She placed her hands on his chest and gently pressed him up from her. "You probably have to go." Beetee whispered.

"Yeah." Wiress said. "Grandma might get worried."

"Or suspicious." Beetee said winking.

"You wish, genius." Wiress joked. Beetee helped her off the couch. His hand remained in her grasp as she put on her coat. "See you around." Wiress whispered. Beetee kissed her on the forehead once more before she walked home. She began laughing thinking about their recent exchange. Suddenly she burst into tears. _Wiress, why are you falling in love with the man who has caused you so much pain?_ She thought about it. _I'm falling in love with the man who keeps on saving my life._ _Choose one._ She brushed her tears away. _We're a team. He's proven himself as a trusted team mate. We're getting along. His kisses are very very nice. Therefore, I guess I love him more than I hate him._ That was the only logical conclusion. The other combination of her thoughts didn't make any sense otherwise.

"Did you enjoy your walk, dear?" Annette asked as her granddaughter walked through the door humming. She knew better than to say anything about her mussed hair and swollen lips.

"Yes, grandma." Wiress said smiling.

"I'm sure you did. Dinner is at six." Wiress nodded.

"I'll be studying." Wiress said before going into the bedroom.

"Mmhm." Annette replied. She knew her granddaughter would do some legitimate studying, but she also knew she would be rather distracted thinking about a certain young engineer. She chuckled to herself and worked on repairing a quilt. She made a mental note to herself to check over Wiress's other blouses for holes, as Wiress would probably want to look her best more often.

Wiress' extracurricular activities diminished quite a bit during the fall semester. The underground supply chain to the other districts moved at a snail's pace as the Peacekeepers were quite suspicious that something was amiss. Wiress only made two 'wire courier' deliveries within three months.

"Something _is_ moving, genius." Wiress whispered. She was crouched behind a shed with Beetee behind her. They had delivered a rather large part to another person in the Underground. After depositing their load behind one of the factories, they had to make it back. Unfortunately, the Peacekeepers had decided to change their monitoring schedule the day before. Four of them walked up and down the streets near the factories.

"Wiress, I don't see anything." Beetee muttered.

"Clean your glasses." Wiress hissed.

"You're just being paranoid. The coast is clear." Wiress looked around the corner of the building. She spotted the four peacekeepers at their stations. They all appeared to be facing in different ways but away from the shed. "I'll go first." Beetee said. He pointed to a building where the shadows were deep and long. He squeezed Wiress' hand reassuringly before taking off toward the building.

Suddenly two Peacekeepers ran toward him and wrestled him to the ground. _Run, Wiress, run!_ Wiress felt torn. She wanted to save Beetee, but she knew she couldn't get caught as well. She ran the opposite way pausing only to sob when she found a space behind a truly smelly outhouse to rest. She ran home and jumped into bed knowing someone else from the underground supply chain would contact her if they needed to do anything. They would know Beetee was absent soon enough.

Wiress buried her face in her pillow and sobbed. _Beetee's gone. My Beetee is gone. My team-mate. Companion. The one I love is gone._


	11. Chapter 11

Wiress sat in the basement of Factory One, hunched over in a wooden chair to conserve warmth. The room was heated just enough to keep the pipes from freezing. She was meeting with other members of the underground supply line. "Well, we don't blame you, Wiress." the leader known as Jones said. Tears streamed down her face.

"We just have to get him back." Wiress whispered. "He's our mentor."

"We know." Another member said. "The Capital knows that. They wouldn't keep a Victor from the Games without a replacement." He paused. "I don't think."

"We can't risk them just sending him back." Jones retorted. "Young Wiress is right." He paused. "We have to find a way to get him back."

"Well, who will go?" A woman wearing a factory supervisor uniform asked. "Who's going to risk their jobs? Their families?"

"I'll go." Wiress said.

"Wiress, you're in school." Someone else asked.

"I know." Wiress paused. "We have spring break for three days and then there's the weekend." She paused. "It's in three months." Her stomach clenched when she thought of three months of not knowing where Beetee was or having any contact with him.

"Why do you want to go, Wiress?" Jones asked. Wiress bit her lip.

"We're a team." She said trying to keep her voice even as tears streamed down her face faster. "Beetee and I are. I - he's stood up for me, and I've stood up for him." She paused. "I know I'm in school, but Beetee's taught me about Capital technology that we haven't even covered in school yet. I've thought of some loopholes." She pulled a notebook out of her backpack. "I've been doing research."

"While still getting very high scores on your exams and projects this fall semester, I might add." One of Wiress' teachers Mr. Gates added. "I'll vouch for her. She's smart, you teach her about any technology and she's found a way to make it better within the hour." He paused. "You all know she's the best at hiding on missions."

"Wiress, do you understand that you will go alone. We can't have another person with you in case he or she gets caught." He paused. "Do you also understand that this mission ends in success or your death?" Wiress paused.

"If I get caught, I must - end it?" Wiress asked slowly.

"Yes." Jones said gently. "Wiress, please don't feel obligated to do this. There are others willing to risk everything to get our victor back."

"I'll go." Wiress said. "I have to go to rescue Beetee." She paused. "I love him."

Wiress spent the next several months studying the Capital's security systems in various buildings and the pod system that protects the streets. Studying included obtaining the blueprints which took some stealth missions late at night. "Wiress, dear?" Annette asked.

"Yes, Grandma?" Wiress asked looking up from her blueprint. "Do you want me to study in the living room?"

"No. But from now on tell me you're going out when you're away." Wiress opened her mouth. "You already tell me if you're going out with friends or - errands." She paused. "But just tell me you're going out, ok?"

"Ok, Grandma." Wiress said. She paused. "I'm sorry."

"Why, my live-wire?" Annette asked wrapping her granddaughter in a hug.

"I make you worry."

"I just worry that you don't get enough sleep." She said taking the blueprint off the desk and folding it carefully to stow under Wiress' bed. "Go to sleep, little wire." She kissed Wiress' forehead.

"Grandma?" Wiress asked.

"C'mon." Annette said pulling back Wiress' covers. "You won't do well in school or with anything else if you don't sleep." Wiress crawled in. "There. Sweet dreams." She kissed Wiress' forehead and turned off the light. She sighed knowing Wiress wouldn't really relax until Beetee was holding her in his arms again. However, she smiled as she closed the door knowing Wiress had the intelligence and the determination to bring home the engineer she loved.


	12. Chapter 12

_Beetee smiled as Wiress came into the living room. She had changed into a grey sweatshirt and grey pants. Those were her 'tactical' gear. He embraced her and swept her off her feet twirling her around. "Beetee!" She giggled. He loved the sound of her giggle and responded with a kiss. _

_"Anything good in the mail?" Wiress asked once her feet touched the wooden floor. She looked at the engineering periodicals strewn out on the coffee table. "Ooh! New periodicals!" She flopped down on the couch and leaned against Beetee as they began browsing through one electrical engineering journal. Beetee held one side and Wiress held another. Their other hands in the middle found each other and they laced their fingers together. "I'll have to remember a few of these articles." Wiress said an hour later. _

_"Yeah?" Beetee asked. _

_"I do half my research at your house, you know." Wiress admitted. "Your house is like my own personal library." Beetee laughed. "I'd better be able to come over here once I graduate." Wiress quipped. _

_"What do you think I'll say, genius?" Beetee asked before kissing her cheek. He untangled his his hand and wrapped his arm around Wiress pulling her even closer to him. _

_"I think -" Wiress stared up at Beetee. Behind his glasses, his eyes had a sparkle of laughter and of desire in them. "I think you'll let me come over. Or else." She quipped. _

_"Not come over." Beetee corrected. "Stay." Wiress' eyes got even larger. Beetee wrapped his arms around her as they fell back onto the couch, their journal laying quite forgotten on the floor. Wiress sighed with pleasure in between kisses. "Wiress," Beetee whispered as Wiress tucked her sweatshirt under his head and straightened out his undershirt before resting her head over his heart. _

_"Hm?" Wiress asked as Beetee ran his hands up and down her sides and arms. _

_"Do you need to study before we get our errands done?" Beetee asked. Errands was code for mission for the underground. _

_"I studied before I came here, genius." Wiress said snarkily. _

_"We should get some sleep." Beetee said. Wiress' lips met his again. "Mm - I'm serious." _

_"I am too." Wiress said winking. She wrapped her arms and legs tighter around Beetee and breathed in his scent. The steady beating of his heart against her cheek lulled her to sleep._

Wiress opened her eyes with her limbs wrapped around her pillow. She buried her face in her blankets and cried. She rarely went a week without dreaming about her last few hours with Beetee before he was caught by the Peacekeepers during their last mission.

"He'll come back, my live-wire." Wiress felt a hand rubbing her back as she sobbed. "Sssh, honey. try and go to sleep. He'll come back." Wiress cried until her voice gave out. This seemed to happen every other night. She eventually drifted off to sleep again.

At school the next morning, she laughed and talked with her friends and listened to them as they discussed spring break plans. "Wiress, we _have_ to hang out!" Melissa squealed.

"Um - I - we'll see." Wiress stammered.

"Oh c'mon, you're not thinking about _working_ during school, are you?" Julie asked frowning.

"I -" Wiress paused. "My grandma needs some -money for a new stove." She said thinking fast. "I - I just really want to help her. Tell you what, I'll come over to your house if I'm not busy, ok?"

"Ok." Melissa and Julie said. They were disappointed, but knew Wiress had to help her grandmother. The bell rang and everyone cheered as they grabbed their things and ran out the door to begin Spring break. Wiress hugged her friends before running off to the basement of Factory One. She stowed her book bag and uniform in a hole behind a board and then pulled on some tactical gear others in the underground had been slowly stealing from the Peacekeepers. Wiress pulled on what appeared to be a thin black vest which was bullet proof. She strapped a device to her wrist that looked like a watch but was a comminicuff she could use to contact others in the rebellion who were helping with the rescue. She pulled on black leggings and then pulled a dark factory jumpsuit over everything. She finished her look by pulling on a dark hooded jacket. She walked out of the basement and over to where several factory workers were milling about as they were getting off work. One of them walked over to her and shook her hand. When she pulled away, she was holding small capacitor that could be used in a special type of taser. The worker smiled at Wiress and handed her a backpack that would contain everything she would need.

"Have a safe trip." The worker said smiling and giving her a knowing look.

"Thanks." Wiress said. "I'll call you if I need anything." Wiress walked through the streets to the train station. She produced false documents to board a train to the Capitol. She fit in with the maintenance crew and was soon absorbed in maintaining and even fixing components on the train carrying the inventions from the minds of District Three. As she lay on a mat in the corner of a cot, she lay down and listened to the clacking of the wheels and mechanisms of the train car. She had one thought as she fell asleep: _I'm coming for you, Beetee. Hold on, love. I'm coming for you. _


	13. Chapter 13

Wiress was in the Capitol when she opened her eyes the next morning. She finished her work on the train and managed to sneak some extra tools from the toolboxes into her backpack. No one spoke to her as she followed the maintenance crew to their quarters. She stayed in the shadows and hallways as she made her way to the exit. When she emerged from the employee door of the train station, she turned the corner and found herself on the corner of two busy streets of the Capitol.

The sheer amount of colors and jewels on the people and the buildings overwhelmed her senses. Music was blaring from one of the stores that sold a rainbow palate of clothes. No one noticed Wiress in her dark clothing. She walked amid the crowd to the Technology Administration building. She had memorized the part of the Capitol where the underground was sure Beetee was. The building was a twenty story building with reflective windows that were tinted dark blue. "Beetee." Wiress whispered. She walked around the perimeter of the building and looked down at her communicuff. She flicked on the device and scrolled through the various screens until she found a screen where she could type code. She used the keyboard on the touch-screen of the communicuff and typed in several commands. The invisible fence around the building was disabled and Wiress hurried across the lawn and hid under a bush that was growing near the building. She entered another command that would scramble the surveillance cameras that scanned the building at certain intervals. Wiress crouched so she was beneath the windows and ran to a service door. She pulled out a metal file looking device from her pocket and picked the lock before hurrying in.

Avoxes were walking down the service hallways pushing carts full of files and stuff like printers or other electronic devices. Wiress darted into a room marked: Uniforms and Laundry. She pulled an Avox uniform on over her clothes and walked down the hall. She had memorized the blueprint of this building and hid in a closet until the other employees had nearly cleared out of the hallway. Slowly opening the closet, she hurried down the stairs she knew were behind a nondescript door. Suddenly someone made a noise. A blonde haired avox appearing to be in his twenties shook his head and signed something. Wiress quickly pulled her taser out of her pocket and shot it at him. He crumpled to the ground out cold for thirty minutes.

She hurried down the stairs and shot the code box with the taser. She shielded her face as metal and plastic shards exploded throughout the room. She opened the door and was met by two guards. They weren't peacekeepers, but they were still dangerous. "What are you doing, avox?" they asked spitting the last word. Wiress shook her head knowing that if she spoke, she would give herself away. She tasered one guard, but the other one pulled out a baton. She curled up into a ball and rolled on the floor to avoid him. "Where did you get that?" The guard asked, his hand clamping onto Wiress' wrist. She kicked the man in the groin and tasered him. Other guards or peackeepers were coming based on the quick footsteps she heard. Wiress climbed up a ladder and quickly unscrewed a vent. She climbed in and crawled through the ducts of the heating and air-conditioning system. Her three layers of clothing insulated her from the cold air blowing through the system.

She began crawling slowly through the piping. She stopped when she heard noises below her. "_Where did she go?_" an angry male voice asked.

"I - I dunno - I - " The guard stammered. Wiress recognized his voice as the one that stopped her at the bottom of the steps.

"_You were hired to keep track of them, boy!_" Wiress gasped. "Obviously, you let one go." Wiress' blood chilled at the evil sounding voice. "I think you should take a walk in their shoes." He snapped his fingers and Wiress heard several other guards moving around. _  
_

"No - no - AAAH!" The guard screamed an inhuman scream. Wiress put her fingers in her ears before hurrying away from the place. She was shaking and had to rest after about half an hour of crawling through the pipes. She lay on her stomach and her whole body shook, not from the cold, but from the realization that someone was brutally punished because he had let her escape. _The guards are one misstep away from being tortured like an ordinary citizen and then treated less than human._ She gulped. Tears came to her eyes. She didn't want to think about Beetee being tortured here in the Capitol.

"Stay strong, love." Wiress whispered, tears streaming down her face as she took a short nap. "Stay strong. I'm coming."

Beetee lay on his mat in a room that was barely five feet by three feet in area after another fifteen hour day. His clothes were baggy on him after so many meals of just a small square roll that was dry unlike the rolls from home. He was nearly done with redoing the wiring and programming for the television broadcasting system. When his brain stopped thinking about work, he thought one thought that kept him going: _He must get out of here and go back to Wiress._ He thought about her working alone at I-Squared and smiled imagining her picking the locks to his house to access his engineering library. Closing his eyes allowed him to picture her better: the look of intense concentration when she was working on something, the way her face lit up when she figured something else, the shy smile she gave him before a kiss, the way she rolled her eyes as she said the word "genius" directed sarcastically at him, the way their hands fit perfectly inside each other, and over and over again the fear in her eyes as she sensed the peacekeepers he did not see until they took him away.

"Wiress." He whispered to himself, tears coming to his eyes. She was the reason he was alive. She was the reason he tried to break out of the building less than twenty four hours after his capture and beaten within an inch of death for his trouble. As the whips and batons whistled through the air and beat against his flesh again and again, he cried out that he could help them redo their wiring, their lighting system. "Let me live - please - let me live - I'll do anything!" He had moaned.

"Why should we let you live, Tesla?" The head peacekeeper asked. "We certainly don't need your mentoring as none of your tributes make it past the bloodbath anyway." Beetee bit his lip.

"I can invent." Beetee said quickly. "Here. In the Capitol - please - please, I'm begging you!" He said before coughing up blood. "Please - for her -" He gasped.

"For who?" the peacekeeper asked dangerously.

"The girl I love. Back home." Beetee whispered. "Please -just let me live - and I'll do whatever you need - only - let me go back to my love someday - please -"

"We have a deal, Tesla." The peacekeeper said pulling him to his feet. "You be a good engineer for us, and you can go back to your girl." He laughed cruelly. "I hope she has the patience to wait a long time for you, Tesla."

"She will." Beetee said thinking about Wiress holding him as if her life depended on it. "You just watch. She will." In spite of his pain, he smiled. Even if she didn't know it, her love was keeping him alive.


	14. Chapter 14

At exactly midnight, Wiress began moving through the air conditioning ducts again. She tracked her progress on a GPS on her communicuff. She pressed her ear to the wall and heard the hum of large power generators typical of those powering a super-computer. She opened a vent in the ceiling and jumped down to the tile floor. Pulling on gloves, she hurried over to the main computer in the center of the room. Three monitors were on the desk and there was a keyboard in the middle of the desk. Wiress hacked into the system and began looking at the records. She smiled when she saw reports on Beetee's progress on his wiring projects. _You're doing well, love._ She thought, a warm feeling swelling in her chest. She smiled and found what she was looking for: a document mentioning Beetee's place of residence. It was in the basement of the main broadcast headquarters several buildings over. Wiress groaned inwardly. She had to make her way out of this building and break into another.

She smiled and sent a virus into the computer system that would disable many of the pods and security systems throughout the Capitol. After locking the computer, she hurried through the basement and found a service door to the outside. She exited and hid behind a bush. Climbing around in the AC ducts had shielded her from the lights and noise of the streets. She poked her face out from behind the bush one large eye at a time. _Do they ever sleep?_ She watched oddly dressed people walk down the street eating, drinking, or carrying large shopping bags. Stripping off her now soiled avox uniform, she stuffed it in her backpack for later.

Wiress made her way three blocks to the west by running in the shadows and hiding behind bushes. Suddenly she heard the familiar sound of a Peacekeepers' boots coming down the street. Thinking fast, she hid under a dumpster. "Who's there?" Wiress gulped and gripped her taser that she had pulled out of her pocket. She held her breath as the Peacekeeper walked right in front of the dumpster. He pulled out his baton and swung it at his side. "Peacekeepers! Show yourself!" He barked. He stood by the trash can for several minutes before walking away. Wiress counted to three, rolled out from under the bin, and ran to her next destination which was a long shadow of the fence that surrounded the Panem Television and Broadcasting Complex. Wiress crawled under the bush near the fence and listened to the hum of the electrical current embedded in the fence. She let herself cry for several moments. Beetee was so close but yet still so far.

"TESLA! _TESLA! UP NOW!_" A guard was banging on the metal door of Beetee's cell. He rubbed his eyes and reached for his glasses seconds before the guard turned on the bare bulb and yanked Beetee to his feet. "MOVE!" The guard sprinted down the hall nearly dragging Beetee with him. He was shoved into a car and driven a short way before being dragged down into the basement of another building. He was shoved into a room housing a supercomputer and a desk with a computer with three screens. Computer engineers were scattered around the room working on laptops and guards were standing around the perimeter with their weapons at the ready. "SIT!" The guard shoved Beetee into the chair at the desk.

"You have a virus." Beetee muttered. He was rewarded by a slap across the face.

"SOLVE IT! OR DIE!" Beetee went to work. If he ignored the the guards and his starving body, he could almost be in his work room working on a pesky line of code. As he was working, he recognized the work of the hacker. _Find the weak spots, jam them up, and then escape._ He smiled. _That's my girl._ His spirits were uplifted knowing Wiress had broken into the system. He wondered if she was in the Capitol itself. He typed in a few commands.

"Oh - someone broke in - from this computer." Beetee stammered. His hands shook. _She was just here. In this chair._ _Wiress is_ _**right here** in the Capitol. __  
_

"CALL THE PEACEKEEPERS!" The guard barked into a radio. "We have a break in! Find the fugitive!"

"How will we know who it is?" another guard asked puzzled.

"This person will know Mr. Tesla." The lead guard said slowly and carefully. "This person will be brought to this room to explain this little prank. Then Mr. Tesla will watch the execution." The guard shoved the opening of his gun into the base of Beetee's skull. "If you make this worse, you will never see your district or your girl. Again."

Wiress found the power generator that fueled the fence. She placed explosives around it and sprinted away. She hit the ground as a large blast literally shook the ground. She jumped up and climbed the fence. Jumping down, she ducked under one of the many broadcast satellites inside the compound. She hurried across the 'satellite field' and made it to the side of the building. _Now to find the door._

Beetee finished fixing the computer system just as a Peacekeeper ran into the room. He pulled Beetee to his feet and glared into his face. "Who are you communicating with, Mr. Tesla?"

"I haven't -" Beetee began but was hit across the head with the Peacekeeper's baton.

"_Don't_ give me that, Mr. Tesla! Someone broke into the Broadcast Compound! _Someone_ hacked into the computer. _WHO IS HELPING YOU, MR. TESLA? ANSWER ME, NOW!" _

_"_I told you, I don't know." The Peacekeeper sneered and pulled out a small flat square that was a touch screen. He held it under Beetee's nose. "_This_, Mr. Tesla is a controller we use to control the pods. One push, and I will send mutts all over that compound. Mutts that can cause a human to experience searing pain as they bite flesh over and over." Beetee paled. "Aah, so you _do_ know someone." He smiled. "Who is it? Just give me a name or description, and I will not send the mutts."

"But you will kill them otherwise." Beetee whispered. The Peacekeeper chuckled.

"Oh, we have our options if your friend is caught. Just give me a name, Mr. Tesla." Beetee bit his lip and tears came to his eyes. _Betray Wiress and maybe negotiate her freedom, Say nothing and risk her certain death._ Beetee shook his head.

"No." He whispered as the tears came faster.

"Are you sure, Mr. Tesla?" The Peacekeeper asked. Suddenly Beetee kicked the Peacekeeper with all his might and grabbed the square. He stomped on it and it was crushed to powder. The guards rushed at him and began beating him. He tried rolling out of their grasp.

"SEND THE MUTTS ANYWAY!" Someone else yelled. "MR. TESLA'S FRIEND IS GOING TO DIE!"

"NO! NO! PLEASE NO!" Beetee screamed before someone kicked him in the head and his world went black.


	15. Chapter 15

_C'mon. There has to be a door._ Wiress felt the air change. Suddenly she felt a searing pain on her hand. She looked as a nearly invisible gnat landed on her finger. _Not a gnat. A mutt._ Wiress took off running ignoring the painful pinpricks of the gnats. She found a door and picked the lock. Her hands were bleeding as if her skin was melting off. Wiress felt blood trickling down her face. She pulled the door open and closed it. She knew the gnats were still on her.

She found a custodial closet and got in. She turned on water that was mixed with strong bleach. Biting her cheek until it bled, she hosed herself off nearly blacking out from the excruciating pain. Her skin was red and raw, and blood seemed to leak out of her pores. "I'm almost there, Beetee. I promise." Wiress whispered. She lay on the floor and cried, her tears mixing with blood streaming down her face before she blacked out.

Beetee felt concrete underneath him instead of his mat. He wondered if he was back in his original building or in the Technology Administration building. He opened his swollen eyes and blinked back tears. _Wiress, wherever you are, I'm sorry, love. I'm sorry._ He hoped she wasn't dead, but realized that she might be. _Thank you for trying, love. I'll love you forever._ _I won't ever forget you._ He closed his eyes and was pulled back into darkness.

Wiress woke up and nearly threw up looking at the puddle of blood she had been lying in. The puddle of blood was her own. She pulled her now dry clothes back on. After checking everything for gnats, she began moving again. Looking at her communicuff, she realized she had been out for several hours. Shakily, she ate a bag of dried fruit and nuts. She still had one more in her backpack. Her feet felt unsteady as she slowly made her way down the dimly lit hallway that was mostly supply and extra rooms. The only people she passed were avoxes going about their business. She was grateful that she had saved her uniform as she was wearing it now.

Beetee continued working on the wiring project once he could sit up. He was nearly finished. In fact, he had been working slowly to prolong any other punishment. The guards continued sneering at him and asking him if he heard from his friend. "Well, it's been six hours." One of the guards said smiling and learning against Beetee's desk. "We haven't found a body. However, those little buggers can get mighty hungry." He smiled again. "Imagine, ordinary gnats turned bloodthirsty. Imagine a swarm of them ingesting minute bits of flesh and bone. Tissue. Imagine a slow death where gnats eat the whole carcass. We could test them, you know. We could even reconstruct their victim. They're back in their holding area. The Peacekeepers said they were nice and swollen." Beetee's face paled as the guard laughed. _My Wiress. My beautiful Wiress is dead. Has suffered terribly. Because of me._ "This means good bye to Mr. Tesla's friend." The guard cheered as several others in the room laughed.

Beetee turned around and began typing furiously. He would work as fast as he could and then try and get out. He would try and make it back to District Three and find a way to honor Wiress' memory there. It was the least he could do. Planning his escape route in his head kept his grief at bay. Technically he was done with the project, but he was making little tweaks to buy himself time and to refine his plan.

Wiress made her way through the maze of hallways. She stopped at a gate where there was a place for fingerprint recognition near the door. She paused. An avox was coming down the hall with a large monitor on a cart. Wiress bit her lip. She didn't want to fight unprovoked, but she had no other choice. She hid in a doorway and pulled out her taser. As the avox came closer, she fired and dragged him across the floor and placed his hand on the sensor. The gate opened. Wiress grabbed the cart and continued down the hallway. She looked at the sticky note on the monitor. It seemed like an office number. "Where are you going, avox?" An employee asked. Wiress pulled off the stick note and held it up. "That's in a restricted area. Where's your badge?" Wiress grimaced and checked her pockets. "WHERE IS IT, GIRL?" Wiress gulped and then kicked the employee and tasered him. She heard a commotion behind her and heard Peacekeepers or guards coming. She broke a hole in the monitor and placed some explosive material in there before hooking the wires to a battery and turning on the power button. She ran down the hall and jumped into a doorway as an explosion rocked the hallway.

Beetee was startled from his work when a deafening siren pierced the air. "INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING! I REPEAT, INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING! ALL EMPLOYEES MUST FOLLOW SAFETY PROCEDURES! ALL PEACEKEEPERS AND GUARDS MUST BE ARMED!" He gasped. _Wiress is here._ A surge of energy shot through his body as he took down the guard. He grabbed the guard's gun and shot him point-blank in the forehead.

He pulled on the guard's vest and loaded the gun with more ammo before running out into the hallway. Peacekeepers and guards were running down the hallways and getting into positions to take down anyone who wasn't meant to be there. Beetee closed his eyes as he heard a volley of gunfire from a distant hallway and screams of avoxes. _C'mon, honey. I know you're here._ He thought. He heard a noise at the end of the long hallway. A small avox with dark hair ran down the hall. "GET HER!" Someone yelled. "She doesn't have an access card on her!" Beetee gasped as the Peacekeepers and guards rushed toward the small person running down the hall. She turned and rolled on the floor before getting up and disappearing through a doorway. A peacekeeper followed her path.

Beetee saw a web of wires light up at the contact with the Peacekeeper. The web extended across the hallway and down the walls where the other guards and Peacekeepers were collected. Beetee marveled at the intricacy of the wire network before the entire hallway exploded. Beetee hit the floor as debris flew through the air. He got up and ran down the hall he knew Wiress was in.

Wiress heard the explosion but still heard the sound of guard's boots chasing her. She ran down the new hallway but stopped. Something was off with the person's running, as if the guard was stumbling rather than running. She pulled out a screwdriver out of her backpack and threw it at the guard. The guard moved to dodge it and fell to the floor.

"Wiress -" Beetee gasped looking up at the girl in an avox uniform running toward her.

"No, I'm another guard, _genius._" Wiress whispered throwing herself on top of Beetee and kissing him passionately.

"Wiress -honey - we have to get up."

"I know." Wiress whispered. She picked a lock in a closet and pulled them inside.

"How are we getting out of here?" Beetee asked worriedly.

"Your turn." Wiress said smirking. She was startled when she wrapped her arms around Beetee and felt bones jutting through fragile skin. "Did they even feed you here?" She gasped.

"A capitol feast every night, genius." Beetee whispered as his lips met hers. They slid down to the floor. Beetee sat with his back to the wall and Wiress' limbs wrapped around him. Wiress closed her eyes and savored breathing in his familiar smell. Beetee stroked her hair with his hands and kissed her forehead. "You're insane for doing this." Beetee whispered in between kisses.

"If we both die here, we can die in each other's arms." Wiress whispered. Beetee smiled. He could tolerate that. Even if escaping the Capitol was nearly as hard as sneaking in, he was confident they could get far together.


	16. Chapter 16

After splitting the last pouch of food Wiress had in her backpack, she and Beetee ran out of the building. They stayed in the shadows of buildings and made their way to the train station. When they came to the station they ran into a platoon of four Peacekeepers.

"Well, if it isn't our darling engineer couple from District Three." One of them sneered. Wiress gripped Beetee's hand and gasped as he gave her a nearly bone-crushing squeeze. "You two weren't thinking about taking the _cargo_ trains back to your district, were you?"

"Not unless you're willing to show us how to purchase tickets." Beetee said. The platoon of peacekeepers laughed.

"Not unless you have _official_ business in the districts, Mr. Tesla."

"Inventing." Wiress said. "He invents half the things you use here anyway." She said fiercely.

"Such as this?" The peacekeeper pulled out a taser and shot Beetee and Wiress' linked hands. Wiress thought fast and pulled hers out. She shot the peackeepers who had wrestled Beetee to the ground. Beetee took a baton out of one of their belts and beat one of them as Wiress shot another. The remaining peacekeeper pulled out his automatic rifle and sprayed the room with bullets. One hit Wiress in the arm. She yelped and fell to the ground seconds before Beetee kicked him from behind. He fell to the ground and Beetee stepped on his neck snapping it in half.

"WIRESS!" Beetee yelled running over to her. She was sprawled out on the ground bleeding from her arm and back. He picked her up and climbed into the car of the train that was beginning to move. "Honey?" he asked. "How's your arm?"

"Never been better, genius." Wiress whispered before wincing in pain. Beetee gently worked her arm out of her layers of shirts. "What do you see?"

"It's embedded in there." Beetee whispered. "In the muscle." He looked down at the puddle of blood forming on the floor. "Wiress - you're losing a lot of blood." Beetee whispered. He bound her arm tightly, but the blood was quickly soaking through the bandage. He held her arm up and put pressure on her armpit where he felt a pulse point. "You have to stay awake, love." Beetee whispered. Wiress nodded through heavy eyelids.

"Remember when you fixed my ankle a few years ago?" Wiress asked. Beetee nodded. "That was embarrassing." Beetee laughed.

"It was just your ankle, genius." Beetee chuckled brushing her hair away from her face.

"So?" Wiress whispered. "I had the biggest crush on you then." Beetee looked at her face. It was deathly pale.

"Wiress - " Beetee whispered. "How are you feeling - really?"

"Weak." Wiress whispered. "Beetee - is is cold here?" Beetee held her hands. They were ice-cold.

"Sort of." He said. "I'm going to roll you over, ok?" Wiress noded. He rolled her over and gasped at the deep wounds on her back.

"Put my legs up." Wiress whispered. Beetee used a box to elevate Wiress' legs. "How - much blood - do you think I've lost?"

"I don't know." Beetee said. He held her arm up with another box and pressed on her armpit to slow the bleeding. He lay down next to her and cupped her face in his other hand. "But I think you're strong enough to make it home." Wiress nodded. "Wiress - you need to stay awake."

"I know." Wiress paused. "I love you, Beetee." she whispered as her breathing became labored.

"I love you too." Beetee said kissing her gently and slowly. "I'd like to marry you one day." Wiress smiled.

"Beetee -" Wiress took a shaky breath. "I - will - spend the rest of my life - with you." She took another breath. Beetee squeezed her hand. "I already am." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Wiress?" Beetee asked. "Love?" She didn't answer or move. He felt her neck for a pulse. "I know you're still with me, baby." He spotted Wiress' communicuff and typed an urgent message to other members of the rebellion.

He saw a squadron of Peacekeepers waiting at the train station. On closer inspection, three out of the four of them lacked weapons. "C'mon, Tesla!" One of them called. They descended on the car and pulled Wiress out.

"Be careful -" Beetee pleaded. "Please - be careful!" They ran to a nearby factory and descended the stairs. They were in a familiar basement. Beetee helped they lay Wiress on a table with a somewhat clean cloth over it. The nurse that was part of the underground began stitching and cleaning Wiress' wounds. He carefully extracted the bullet from her arm and sewed up the large blood vessel that had ruptured. Beetee held up bag after bag of IV fluid.

"She has enough liquid in her not to go into shock." The nurse said. "She'll have to replenish blood on her own. I didn't want to sneak that out of the hospital."

"Thanks - thanks for everything." Beetee whispered. He was wrapped in a hug by the rest of the underground workers.

"We're just glad you're back." One of them said. He helped place Wiress in Beetee's arms. "Now get your girl home." Beetee nodded. "We'll cover you."

As Beetee settled Wiress on the bed in his house, he kissed her forehead which was reassuringly warm. "We're home." He whispered. Even though he worried that their escape was a little too easy, he would worry about the punishment the Capitol would give to them later. But right now, he would enjoy snuggling with and caring for the girl he loved - the girl who loved him enough to save him.


	17. Chapter 17

Wiress woke up in her bed at her grandmother's apartment late the next morning. "C'mon, sit up, honey." Her grandmother coaxed gently sitting on the side of her bed.

"How did I get here?" Wiress whispered.

"You were dropped off this morning." Annette said. She smiled. "Along with some food. Here." She handed Wiress a sandwich made out of cold-cuts. Wiress ate it and felt quite full. "Drink some tea." Annette smiled as Wiress drank her tea. "That's a girl."

"Grandma - how - how is he?" Wiress asked. Her grandmother paused en route to taking the tray of empty dishes back to the kitchen.

"He's just fine." Wiress smiled at her grandmother who returned and tucked the covers around her. "You rest. Today's Saturday and you have Sunday and then back to school. Wiress sat straight up. "Relax, my live-wire."

"Two days?" Wiress yelped.

"Yes, dear, and you did all your assignments, so don't worry." Annette said. "Look at it this way, you could've come in Sunday night." She turned out the lights and closed the door. Wiress lay back on her pillow and was soon asleep.

She was strong enough to go over to Melissa's house and chat with her late in the afternoon. On Sunday she insisted on visiting Beetee. "Oh ok, but take this." Her grandmother handed her a thermos of chicken broth. Her grandmother nearly had to sit on her the whole morning to make her rest. After much protesting, she had allowed Wiress to visit Beetee for lunch.

"You didn't have to make this." Wiress said quietly looking at the thermos. She knew chicken broth was expensive.

"I don't have to nurse my grandbaby back to health?" Her grandmother asked before wrapping her a hug. "Come on now. Remember, it's just a quick visit and you come straight back."

"Yes, Grandma." Wiress said smiling. She made her way down the stairs and slowly walked to Victor's Village. Beetee opened the door as she walked up the stairs of his porch. He smiled and scooped her up in his arms.

"Hey." He whispered before kissing her. "How did you know I was fixing lunch for you?"

"I know, you, genius." Wiress whispered. Beetee lay her on the couch and brought a tray out of the kitchen. He sat on the the other side of the coffee table and smiled at her. They chatted about Beetee's inventions that he had already began to resume. "My grandmother wants me to go back and rest for the afternoon."

"Better make her happy." He said smiling. "I don't want to get on her bad side."

"Beetee -" Wiress asked. She reached for his hand across the table. "Did you - did you mean what you said - on the train?" He said nothing but pulled something out of his pocket. It was a pendant made out of a small polished gear. The pendant had BT & WC etched on it and was on a thin metal chain. He came over to Wiress and clasped the chain around her neck.

"Every word, love." Beetee whispered as he shared a long kiss with Wiress. Wiress ran her hand down his neck and found a matching pendant around his neck.

"Oh - Beetee -" Wiress whispered. He smiled at her. "I love you too."

"We'll figure everything out once you're done with the semester." Beetee said smiling. "Now, back to your grandmother's house with you." He carried her out the door and set her on the sidewalk.

Wiress slept through the rest of the afternoon and woke up with her grandmother urging a large dinner into her. She fell asleep and didn't wake again until the next day.

It took most of the rest of the semester for Wiress to feel like herself. She still managed to end the year first in her class. She walked with Melissa and Julie as they all walked to the shops. "Well, three more years at the academy!" Julie said grinning. "But first it's SUMMER!"

"Yeah, and next summer we can do internships if we want!" Melissa said grinning. "We'll all be seventeen!"

"So _you_ can work at I-Squared!" Julie squealed as Wiress blushed. "Oh, don't tell us that you weren't thinking about it! You only talk about your inventor crush all the time!"

"Not _all the time_!" Wiress yelped. "And I do NOT call him my inventor crush!" She yelped as her hand went to her necklace.

"Wait - where did you get that?" Julie asked. "I thought you didn't buy anything when we went to the jewelry shop!" Wiress blushed but held out the pendant for her friends to see.

"Oh wow! Wiress - that's beautiful!" Melissa sighed. "That's very nice."

"OH MY GOODNESS! YOU TWO ARE IN LOVE!" Julie squealed. "Why don't you two just get married now?" Wiress's mouth dropped open.

"Julie, we're still sixteen." Melissa said.

"So?" Julie asked. "She's already engaged!"

"JULIE!" Wiress yelped pulling them into a doorway. Beetee walked by and smiled at her. Wiress replied by blushing furiously. "Besides, we - still have two more summers - before - before we know for sure we won't be away from the District for a few weeks." she said thinking fast. The girls exchanged glances. They all knew what Wiress meant. They had to make it past two more reapings before they could be truly safe to plan their futures.


	18. Chapter 18

Wiress stood with her friends in the sixteen year old section at the reaping. They held hands as was their custom. "Look at Mr. Handsome up there." Julie quipped pointing to Beetee who was sitting behind the mayor. Wiress kicked her. "Ow!" Julie giggled. "Oh c'mon, you probably do think he looks handsome!"

"Yes." Wiress said smiling in spite of herself.

"So, since we're already at the square, want to get ice-cream after this?" Melissa asked. They had always chatted about plans for the rest of the day to abate their worries.

"Sure." Wiress and Melissa said. Melissa groaned and shifted in her shoes.

"I hate these shoes. With a passion." Melissa groaned. They were a size too small, but she figured she only wore them once a year. Wiress shushed her friends as the mayor began to speak. She looked at the smoke stack of Factory Seven and thought of more inventions as the mayor droned on with the history of Panem.

"And ladies and gentlemen, we have a new rule just for this year's Games." The mayor said. There was a sharp intake of breath from the crowd. "If a tribute's name is called, we will not accept any volunteers." Wiress gulped. She could see this rule being implemented in a Career district, but in a non-career district, the rule didn't make much sense. There was a murmur of confusion going through the crowd. "Eustacia will take the stage from here."

"Yes, and Happy Hunger Games!" Eustacia the escort screeched in her Capitol accent. "Ladies first, shall we?" She reached into the bowl and waved her fingers around. "Ladies, I hope you all have a _ton_ of spunk and - spark - this year!" She laughed at her own joke. Julie was gripping Wiress' hand so hard, her nails were digging into her skin. Melissa held her breath.

"It will be ok, girls." Wiress whispered reassuringly.

"Wiress Carpenter!" Eustacia squealed.

"Oh -" Julie gasped. "No!" She gasped.

"Girls - you can't - you're not allowed -" Wiress said frantically. "See you later!" She hurried through the crowd.

"I'm here!" She called.

"My my, you're in a hurry dear! That's the spirit!" Eustacia screeched. Wiress walked resolutely up the stairs and faced the district. "Why don't you state your name for the cameras!"

"Wiress Carpenter." Wiress said into the microphone. "I represent District Three and the Engineering Academy." She stepped back and took a deep breath.

"Very good." Eustacia said. She reached into the boys' bowl and pulled out a name. "Christopher Payte!" She called. "Christopher, come forward!" Wiress gasped when she recognized the boy. He was the son of one of the factory workers that was part of the underground supply line. "Shake hands, tributes!" Wiress nodded and shook hands with Christopher. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the two tributes for District Three!"

Wiress gasped at what happened next. Everyone held their hands up with their four fingers in a V with two fingers on each side and their thumb folded in. "WIRESS! WIRESS!" They chanted her name over and over. Two peacekeepers hurried Wiress and Christopher into the Justice Building.

Wiress held her friends as they sobbed on her shoulder. "I'll be back." Wiress whispered.

"You _have to!_" Melissa said fiercely. "You'll be the smartest one! Show them, Wiress! Show all of them!"

"I will." Wiress said smiling. Melissa and Julie hurried out of the room as Annette Carpenter came in. Wiress could hear the sobs of her friends as her grandmother closed the door.

"I know what this is about, my live-wire." Annette said. Wiress bit her lip. "And I don't want you to feel one bit guilty." She said. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Grandma." Wiress whispered.

"That's my girl!" Wiress was wrapped in a hug. "Good girl. Now, you use those brains and show them what you've got, ok?"

"Ok." Wiress said. Her grandmother sat with her as two teachers including Mr. Gates came in.

"I'm sorry, Wiress." Mr. Gates said. "If I knew things would have led to this -"

"Someone had to do it, sir." Wiress said. "Someone had to get our inventor back." Mr. Gates nodded.

"You just get _yourself_ back, you hear?" He smiled. "The principal is rather fond of giving the top of the class awards to you. We have your name on the plaque for next year. I'd hate to change it."

Wiress and Christopher followed Beetee to the train. Christopher went to his room and lay down once the doors were locked. "Hi." Wiress said as Beetee opened the door to her room.

"Hi - love -" Beetee whispered. He covered his face with his hand. "Sorry -" he whispered as he choked back a sob.

"Beetee -" Wiress whispered. "Come here."

"I -" Beetee paused. Wiress walked over to him so she was standing toe to toe.

"I said, come here, _genius._" She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to the bed. They fell onto the covers and Wiress wrapped him in a passionate kiss. "Now what did you want?" She asked once they broke apart.

"I'm sorry." Beetee said. "I - when we left the Capitol - it was too easy an escape. I wondered if they would do this to you."

"You were right." Wiress said stroking his face.

"You're not mad?"

"What could we do?" Wiress asked shrugging. She smiled. "At least I get to go with you."

"Not to the arena." Beetee whispered. He closed his eyes. "I don't want to lose you." He gasped as he felt Wiress bite down over his collar-bone. "Wiress -" he moaned. "Ok - Ok, we'll figure something out." Wiress smiled.

"That sounds more like the man I love." Wiress said smiling.

"Good. Now, get some sleep. You have a long evening at the Capitol." Beetee said.

"You should probably sleep too, love." Wiress whispered.

"I will." Beetee said. He closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his fiance. He would do his best to get them both out of the Capitol.


	19. Chapter 19

Wiress and Christopher both worked hard during training. "Where did you learn that, District Three?" One of the Careers asked as Wiress aimed a slingshot at a dummy her second day of training.

"It's simple physics." Wiress said smirking. "Did you learn physics in school between your killing people classes?" She got a glare from the burly male tribute from Two. Everyone in the Career pack had talked about how well the tribute team from Three was doing therefore marking them as a target.

"Wiress -" Christopher said quietly at the plant station. "Don't give the Careers attitude." Wiress rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. If you want to live."

"I want to live." Wiress said. "Do you?"

"Of course. It's just - it's just I don't think I'm going to." Wiress sighed.

"Do you listen to what Beetee says?" Christopher nodded. "Well, trust him." They finished with the plants and went off to work on another station. After that day, they went back to their rooms to rest. They had done everything they needed to do, now they just had their private sessions and interviews before the Games.

"A ten." Beetee whispered. Wiress nodded and smiled as he kissed her again. "I'm impressed, amazed, and scared to death." She snuggled closer to Beetee and he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"Told you I'd show them, genius." Wiress said. She ran her finger down Beetee's neck and smiled noticing their chains with their pendants were tangled together, much like their limbs were. "I don't regret it."

"I know." Beetee said. "Christopher got a nine."

"He trusts you, love." Beetee smiled as Wiress wrapped her arms around his neck. During the day, they acted like an ordinary tribute and mentor pair. Once Beetee was done chatting with Christpher and Eustacia, the rest of the evening was spent with Wiress where they could share their love. "So do I." Wiress whispered in his ear. "I'll love you until I die."

The morning of the Games, Wiress woke up and smiled. Beetee was still asleep with his limbs wrapped around her. "Morning, love." Wiress whispered kissing his face and neck. Beetee shifted in his sleep and startled as Wiress gently nipped his shoulder.

"I'm trying to sleep in, genius." Beetee muttered teasingly. Wiress giggled. "Love - I have to go." Beetee blinked back tears as he traced the side of Wiress' face with his fingers.

"I know." Wiress whispered. "I'll see you in a few weeks." Beetee opened his mouth to say something and was stopped with another passionate kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too. With my whole being." Beetee whispered before climbing out of Wiress' bed. After he left, she changed into a t-shirt and shorts and reviewed the notes she had taken during training. Another door opening indicated that Christopher was up. They ate in silence before boarding the hovercraft. Wiress sat on a bench near the windows and held her pendant around her neck in her hand. She rubbed her fingers across the letters and kissed them.

"You love him." Christopher said. It wasn't a question. Wiress nodded as a tear slid down her face.

"I - I won't hurt you, Christopher." Wiress said. "We're allies." She paused. "Beetee wants you to try also. Don't - don't just give up."

"I know." Christopher said. He sighed. "My mom talked about you before. As part of the underground. You saved Beetee. Brought him back from the Capitol." Wiress shrugged. "No one else in the district is as epic as you, Wiress. That's why I know you can win this thing. That's why he knows you can." Wiress nodded.

"Thank you." Wiress whispered as the windows of the craft were blacked out. They reviewed their strategy quietly before their stylists called them down to the launch room. "See you in a little bit."

"Thanks for everything, Wiress." Christopher said. "I'll see you later." Wiress nodded. She changed into her tribute outfit which consisted of tight leggings followed by thick cargo pants. She had a tank top, a shirt, and a fleece jacket. Her boots appeared to be hiking boots.

"Good luck, Wiress." her stylist said. "They love you back home, don't forget it." Wiress nodded as a glass tube slid down on her little circle. She took a deep breath to attempt to calm her nerves.

_I just have to escape the arena. To return to Beetee._ She smiled. _And this time, he will help me._ She smiled. _I'll do my best for you, love. I promise._


	20. Chapter 20

Wiress looked around during the countdown. A cold breeze blew across the mountain summit where the tributes stood around the cornucopia. _This is a world away from District Three._ Wiress thought. She looked at the tributes from District Four who were shivering. They were less used to the cold living by the ocean. She couldn't see Christopher but knew they were meet a bit later. One tribute from nine looked like she was about ready to faint.

The gong sounded and Wiress grabbed a backpack and then took off running. Christopher was running toward her with another pack. She started back toward him but he fell to the ground, an axe in his back. Wiress quickly changed her direction and narrowly missed a spear being thrown at her head. She climbed up a tree but then quickly jumped back down when she realized the tree was filled with tracker-jackers. The high altitude was making her dizzy. In fact, the only tributes not affected by the mountain environment were those from District Two. Wiress ran to a creek and hid behind a boulder. She found a plastic water bottle and some iodine tablets in her pack as well as a blanket. Suddenly she heard several pairs of boots on the rocky trail leading to the river. "There she is!" Someone yelled. "Can't run forever, Three!" Wiress paled. Usually the Career Pack stayed by the cornucopia until the blood bath was over. This time, the tributes from Two were chasing her down specifically. The girl loaded a bow and arrow. Wiress began running through the trees jumping and rolling to avoid the weapons. She grabbed an arrow that landed near her and hurried up a tree. Unraveling a bit of the blanket, she made a makeshift bow.

"Hunting little nerds is so much fun!" The girl cackled before an arrow hit her in the shoulder. The boy threw a knife at the tree. Wiress dodged it, but it sliced through her upper left arm.

"Thanks." She said sticking it in her backpack. She jumped out of the tree and tucked herself into a ball. She landed on the ground and rolled in another direction. Her lungs were burning, but she knew she had to keep going.

She was chased by the career pack for the whole first day. The second day she narrowly missed being detected by a bear type mutt. Beetee watched it all from the control room. He scrolled down her sponsor list. She had to make it three days for her funds to be released. That was part of the deal. He looked down at the gifts labeled: industrial / electronic. Batteries, wires, and toolkits common in any physics or engineering lab were set at astronomical prices. He put his head in his hands and cried. Getting her home would be one of the hardest things in his life, but he knew he had to try.

During the second night, Wiress lay down in a rock field feeling exhausted. She had killed some squirrels for food, but she was still trying to evade the Careers and the other tributes. As with every night, she kissed her pendant and ran her fingers over the letters. "I love you, Beetee." She whispered as she fell asleep.

She gasped as she smelled the familiar stench of burning metal. "Mom? Dad?" Wiress asked suddenly back in Factory Four. She gasped as a wall of fire came toward her. She grabbed her backpack and began running. The smoke was choking her. A fireball came flying and Wiress dodged it. Suddenly she realized she was near a cave. Gasping and choking, she made it to the cave and collapsed after stumbling through the entryway. She drew a shaky breath and then went completely limp, oblivious to the sounds of the other screaming tributes that were caught in the flames.

"Damn, she's invincible." Haymitch muttered watching the main screen. "Unless her cannon went off."

"No." Beetee said looking at her vital signs which were flashing red. "She's still with us - for now." He ran his finger along the tablet. "You're still with us, love." He whispered. Haymitch took a long drink from his bottle.

"Beetee -" He said after he hiccupped. "You gotta figure it out. If she dies."

"I can't, Haymitch." Beetee whispered putting his head in his hands. "I can't."

"Well, start now." Haymitch offered Beetee a bottle of a strong drink.

"No, Haymitch."

"It's gonna hurt, boy." Haymitch muttered. "Just like loosing Maysilee - My Maysee." He muttered before stumbling back to his seat. He said Maysilee's name and then swore loudly throwing the empty bottle against the wall. An avox handed Haymitch a new bottle before grabbing a broom and dustpan to clean up the broken glass.

"What am I going to do if I lose you, baby?" Beetee asked looking at the view of Wiress laying unconscious in her cave. "I have to find a way, don't I?" He reached up and fingered his pendant. "I need to be strong. Like you." He kissed the tablet and sighed. "I love you, Wiress. I love you so much."

Wiress woke up slowly. She stood up and shakily made her way to the river in the arena. After drinking some water, she looked around her surroundings. The forest had been mostly burnt away. She looked up into the sky and noticed that many of the tributes had died in the fire. She began walking to the cornucopia, but had to stop due to a coughing fit. She gasped as she coughed up blood. She looked up with tears in her eyes and knew she was slowly dying. _Get up, Wiress. Get up._ She thought. Suddenly she heard a scuffle near her. A tribute from Seven had another tribute in a headlock. Wiress picked up some rocks and threw them at the pair who were both knocked out. She hurried toward the cornucopia and looked around. There were some knives strewn around and a pack of dried fruit. A noise distracted Wiress as she was picking the supplies up. _  
_

"We meet again." The girl from Two sneered. She had retained her muscular build while Wiress' clothes were beginning to hang on her. She pulled out a spear. "Are you going to run again?" She taunted.

"What do you think, genius?" Wiress whispered before coughing up more blood.

"I bet you won't go far!" The girl taunted.

"Nope." Wiress sighed. She took off running. The girl ran at her with the spear. Wiress turned to her left and made a hairpin turn back to the girl. She took a deep breath and sprinted as fast as she could so she was behind the girl. Before the girl realized her target was now behind her, she felt a knife in her back. She screamed and dropped her spear. Wiress gritted her teeth and ran over to her.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" the girl from two cried. "OH GOD! THE PAIN! IT HURTS SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!"

"I'm sorry." Wiress whispered. "I'll make it stop." Wiress put her fingers to the girl's neck before slitting her throat. She hurried away before collapsing near a tree to cough up more blood. She lay down and watched as the hovercraft came for the girl. Shakily, Wiress raised her hand in the district two symbol she had seen before during a previous game.

"She made them mad." Mags mumbled. Beetee looked over at Mags who's eyes filled with tears. She mumbled something apologetically and held Beetee's hands in hers.

"It's not over yet." Beetee whispered. He looked at the map as a pod lit up in the river.

Wiress was thirsty after her fight with Two. She made her way to the river and drank the water after adding the proper iodine pills. As draining her plastic bottle a second time, she refilled it and put it back in her pack. She had enough iodine for four more refills. She made her way to another small cave near the cornucopia where she knew the games would ultimately end.


	21. Chapter 21

Suddenly Wiress doubled over in pain. She clutched her stomach and lay down. She threw up her last few meals and lay down shaking. Opening her bottle of water, she sniffed the water. She had put iodine in. She thought about it to distract herself from the stabbing pains in her stomach. This was a quick onset even for a water borne illness. She groaned. _The gamekeepers have done something to the water._

"Beetee." She whispered in between heaves. "It's - they - the water -" She lay on her blanket and waited for the spasms to stop. She spent the day in excruciating pain.

Beetee scrolled down the gifts list. "No!" he yelled. "NO!" He stared at the numbers again. He had enough money to get Wiress some medicine that would stop the water poisoning, or he could get her components for an electric trap. There were no other options. He clicked on pain pills and saw that he could give her those but she would be missing some electronic components. He sent her the pills first.

Wiress choked down a pill and lay down to wait. She coughed up more blood as she had been doing for the past day, but her pain was lessening. That evening, she ate a few berries but they went right through her. The next day, another package floated down to her. Wiress crawled out of her cave to get it. Her gaunt features lit up as she examined her gifts. They were a battery, a wire, and some other tools. Suddenly she realized there would be a feast soon. Late that evening, Claudius Templesmith made the announcement that a feast would be at the cornucopia at midnight. Wiress put the supplies in her backpack. She made her way back to the cornucopia mostly on all fours as she was too weak to stand. She worked in the dark taking long breaks in case someone saw what she was doing. She slunk away to a hiding spot to wait for the feast.

At exactly midnight, a metal table appeared near the cornucopia. She could see a vial of medicine, insulated body armor, and what looked like a package of food on the table. The tributes from District One ran toward the cornucopia. Wiress gathered up her remaining strength and ran as well. She collapsed against the metal of the horn and pulled out her battery. As she connected the wires to it, the other tributes screamed in shock as currents of electricity ran from their hands or whatever else was touching the cornucopia.

They collapsed to the ground and began to twitch. Wiress knew the battery was draining so she quickly stabbed the two tributes so their deaths would be quick. She lay down as she heard a trumpet and then Claudius Templesmith announcing her as the victor of the fifty fourth hunger games. "Beetee - I made it for you, love." She whispered before blacking out for a final time.

Mixed reactions swept the control room. Mags offered her congratulations as did some of the non-career mentors. The mentors from one and two stood in a huddle and threw dirty looks at Beetee. He quickly thanked everyone before bolting down the hallway to the hospital. "There they are!" One of the doctors called as the doors to the loading ramp opened.

"Mr. Tesla - how did you get back here?" One of them asked incredulously.

"Hacked the door code, genius!" Beetee snapped. He gasped as he saw the emaciated form on the stretcher that was being pushed to the hospital. "WIRESS!" He yelled. A medic was quickly squeezing a balloon attached to a tube running down her throat while another straddled her and was doing chest compression.

"YOU NEED TO GET HER TO THE OR! NOW!" One of the doctors called.

"NO! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME! She crashed two minutes ago!" They pushed her into the trauma room. "OPERATE HERE OR LET HER DIE! YOU CHOOSE!"

"Mr. Tesla -" One of the doctors said worriedly. "You have to leave or the Peacekeepers will pull you out!"

"I'm staying!" Beetee yelled. "I love her! I'm staying!"

"Well, help me, then!" The doctor saw the determined and terrified look in the young man's eyes and knew Beetee couldn't be turned away. He handed Beetee some gloves and a gown. They ran up to the Operating Room and grabbed a cart that would have all the instruments they needed. Beetee helped push the cart down the hallway. He gulped as he approached the bed. The doctors had their hands directly in Wiress' chest squeezing her heart to will it to pump. One of them placed electrodes on her heart and shocked it a few times.

"We got a heart-beat!" One of the doctors called.

"I knew you'd come back to us, hon." Beetee whispered. He was stationed at the foot of the bed. The doctors were too busy to question the presence of an extra staff member. At another doctor's coaching, he would hand people different things off the cart. Wiress' surgery lasted for hours as they repaired the damage to her lungs and other organs.

Beetee helped them push her stretcher to the hospital room and helped place her on her bed. He grabbed another blanket and put it over her as he could count nearly all her bones through her skin. "She'll make it through the night." one of the doctors said before the door closed. Beetee held her hand and cried.

"I knew you could do it, baby. You showed them. I love you." He whispered as he kissed her cheek. He grasped her hands in his before falling asleep in a chair next to her bed. "I will never leave you. I love you."

* * *

A/N: One or two more chapters to go! :)


	22. Chapter 22

When Wiress was able to make some sense of the world around her, she felt a familiar hand gripping hers. When she ran her thumb over the back of Beetee's hand, she received a gentle squeeze. "Beetee." She whispered smiling.

"I told you you'd get out of the arena, genius" Wiress opened her eyes slowly to allow her brain to adjust to the influx of light.

"I could only with -" Wiress blinked watching Beetee's eyes tear up behind his glasses. She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Only with me as a mentor?" Beetee asked. Wiress smiled.

"You as my teammate - My - love." Wiress whispered. She closed her eyes again and felt the side of the small hospital-issue mattress sink. She curled up in Beetee's arms and fell asleep again. Beetee watched the love of his life sleep. She was looking healthier every day. A week later, he was helping her stand on her own. Two weeks later, she could walk from her bed to the bathroom and then to the door to the hospital room.

"Wiress, I know you're still recovering, but you are more than welcome to stay at my house." Beetee said one day as he was combing her hair. "What do you think?" He asked after a pause.

"What do you think - genius?" Wiress said smiling. She wrapped her arms around Beetee as she was sitting on his lap. She rested her head under his chin and kissed him gently.

"It's settled then." Beetee said happily. Wiress dozed in his lap and he lay her in her bed once she began snoring softly. He looked around and realized he hadn't left her hospital room for three weeks. Not that he minded. He looked at his makeshift notebook that contained sketches on the back of old documents that would have been shredded by the medical staff. Once Wiress was able to stay awake for more than ten minutes, she had asked for paper and a pencil. Though her writing was a bit shaky, she had began making improvements on designs Beetee was showing her.

_You think 15rpm's is enough, genius? _ Beetee laughed as he read the note on the side of his drawing. _Think again. Love, W_. He traced her shaky letters. _Love._ He smiled before adjusting Wiress' blankets around her shoulders and kissing her cheek. "I love you, love." Beetee whispered, his lips brushing her skin.

"I'm not -" Wiress mumbled, her eyes fluttering open.

"You _were_ sleeping a few minutes ago, genius." Beetee whispered in her ear. Wiress rolled over so she was laying on her side watching Beetee sketch at a table beside her bed. They would exchange smiles as he worked.

Finally it was the day of Wiress' post Games interview. Wiress was dressed in a flowing spaghetti strap dark blue dress with silver fibers running up an down the fabric. When light shone on the fibers, they appeared to be lit fiber optic wires. She had a matching shawl to drape over her shoulders to hide her still nearly emaciated form. She sat on a soft chair on the stage with Caesar Flickerman sitting to her left. She had dozed a bit while watching the recap. "Well, Wiress, you certainly outsmarted this years' Gamemakers!" He laughed. "What do you say to that?"

"We're all meant to -" Wiress paused. "Try and survive."

"I see." Caesar said. "What made you survive?"

"Beetee - my -" Wiress paused as she appeared visibly choked up. "Mentor."

"You seem very touched by his help." Caesar said.

"Yes." Wiress paused. "In District Three we help -" She paused. "Invent things. We're a team." She said slowly." She gulped. "I - I've saved his life and -" She paused as tears rolled down her eyes. "And now he has -"

"He has now saved yours." Caesar finished. Wiress nodded as everyone 'awwed.' "That sounds like a very intriguing story." Wiress nodded. "Well, you're sixteen years old turning seventeen in August." He said smiling. "You have a lot of life ahead of you. What do you plan to do with the rest of it?"

"I want to spend the rest of it with -" Wiress paused. She looked over at Beetee who was standing by President Snow. She got up and faced Beetee. Caesar walked by her side as she made her way to Beetee.

Beetee smiled and blinked back tears as Wiress approached him. She radiated strength defying her sickly form. _She's beautiful. She's so beautiful._ He took her hands in his and held them firmly. "I -" Wiress looked into Beetee's eyes. "I would like to spend the rest of my life -" Caesar placed the microphone near Wiress' and Beetee's mouths without it being intrusive.

"Wiress," Beetee said smiling. "I would also like to spend the rest of my life with you." He smiled. "Will you marry me?"

"Would I say no, genius?" Wiress quipped. Everyone from Caesar to the camera crew and the audience cheered with tears streaming down their faces as Wiress and Beetee shared their kiss. Eventually they broke apart and Wiress stepped back. President Snow placed the Victor's crown on Wiress' head and she waved at the crowd as they cheered for her. Her other hand was still in Beetee's grasp. When the crowd became overwhelming a few moments later, Wiress felt comfort in Beetee's arms, with his kisses peppering her forehead. Beetee scooped Wiress up and carried her back stage.

"You got me out of this place once, and so now we're even." Beetee whispered in Wiress' ear. Wiress smiled. "Let's get out of here. We have our inventions waiting."

"Together." Wiress whispered smiling and kissing her fiance as he carried her to the train. "We'll go together."

* * *

A/N: another SAPPY ENDING! :D Thanks everyone for reading!


End file.
